Twin Sons Of Neptune
by A.G. Rodriguez
Summary: "Percy Jackson?" I repeated. I had heard that name a lot throughout the years.. Mostly on my quests with Ody, a lot of times monsters would mistake him for some kid named Percy Jackson,and now I could see why. They were practically identical and...had the same last name? Rated M for a reason ;)
1. Chapter 1

**_Quick Note:_ I decided to start over since I didn't like how I began the other chapters. Its the same storyline though. Towards the end of this chapter it's a mixture of work between Rick and I.**

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**Lexi's POV**

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I set my silver bow and quiver of arrows down against the wall of the tunnel. It was pretty cold and I could feel goosebumps forming on my skin. I felt someone from behind me wrap their arms around my waist and I nearly jumped, but once I took in the familiar fresh scent of a gentle sea breeze I realized it was Ody.

"You cold?" He asks. He gives me a kiss on the cheek and I smile.

"Yea, it's freaking freezing in here," I answer softly.

"I'd be happy to warm you up," he says smoothly. He lets go of me for a moment and when I turned around I saw him taking off his favorite black California sweater. I got a glimpse of his abs and I couldn't help but smile.

"Here," he says holding out the sweater to me.

"That's okay. It's your favorite sweater, you wear it," He shakes his head and slips it over my head easily.

"You're the one who bought it for me. Just wear it, I don't need you getting sick on me," he insists.

"If it makes you happy..." I stick my arms and pull it down over my chest. I looked down and started laughing. The sweater was way too big for me, it almost looked like a dress. That's what happens when a girl that's 5'2 decides to wear her 6'3 boyfriend's clothing.

"You look cute in it. Shit you look better in it than I do. I'm so jealous," he crosses his arms and gives me a cute pout.

"No I don't, but I bet if I took off these pants..." I wrap my arms around his waist and pull myself closer to him.

"That sounds like a good idea," he says cheerfully. He gave me his signature mischievous smile that's been driving me crazy for years.

"You would think it's a good idea," I tease. "But then my legs would be cold"

"True...well then I guess I'll have to see another time,"

"Mhmmm," I say laying my head against his stomach and all it's hardness.

"So what are you doing today?"

"Well, after our shift I have to go clean the stables with Frank and Nate. Then I have to go grab some chemicals and stuff from my dad and I'm supposed to be working with Kenzie for a few hours,"

"And of course I'm not included in any of this," he says in a gentle, somewhat disappointed tone.

"Well you're always welcome to help me in the stables...,"

"Wow, that's the best you can do to fit me into your schedule," I look up to see he looked hurt.

"I have something planned for us today, don't worry,"

"Oh really?" He asks flatly as if he doubted it were true.

"Yea, it's a surprise though. To make up for the lack of quality time with you,"

"You serious? You really planned something for us?" There was a serious look on his face and his gorgeous sea green eyes were full of curiosity.

"Si, algo muy especial (something very special).".

"Oooh I love when you speak Spanish," he kisses me along my neck affectionately.

"I know, you've told me a million times,"

"You said you would teach me" he says with a childish pout.

"I teach you all the time, what are you talking about? You had a full conversation with my grandma at Christmas," I laugh at the memory. This year Ody spent Christmas with me and my family. He had a pretty decent conversation with her even though he mixed a few words up, and made him sound like an idiot.

"Yea but I barely knew how to respond. We need to practice more. I want to be fluent,"

"Fine, fine." He continues to kiss me along my neck and he moans, which catches me off guard.

"You literally taste like candy babe," he says licking his lips. I looked up at him with an amused look. I had forgotten I was wearing my new cotton candy flavored lotion.

"Oh yea, that's my new lotion. You like it?"

"It's delicious. You know how much I like cotton candy," he goes starts working on the other side of my neck gently kissing, nibbling, and sucking on tender and sensitive areas.

"I'm glad you like it, I haven't gotten this much affection in a while," he chuckles and separates from me. He touched a sensitive spot behind my earlobe and smiled.

"Yea I know, I haven't given you hickies in forever," I smack him in his chest. "What you hit me for!?"

"You know I hate that word," I growl scornfully.

"Oh my bad...I haven't given you any "love marks" in a while,"

"Much better," he chuckles and shakes his head as if to say: ahh she's ridiculous. I pull out my compact and take a look at the love marks. "Why so many? I look like a slut,"

"Oh my gods! I hate when you say that Lex,"he says in with an irritated tone. I bite my lip and quickly think of a cover up.

"I mean...it doesn't look lady like,"

"Much better," he says mocking my earlier response.

I close my compact and look at him again."I swear you better not be giving me these for with an ulterior motive," he stays quiet and I saw the guilt instantly.

"I know that look. Ody!"

"I don't know. Sometimes I just enjoy giving them but other times it's like I want people to see them," he confesses.

"So you're saying you want people to see these marks so they know I'm taken?"

"Exactly. I'm glad you understand,"

I walk towards my bow and quiver."Doesn't mean I like it," I grumble.

"What?"

"It's like you're a dog pissing on a fire hydrant or something to claim your territory. That's a dumb reason to give love marks to people,"

"No it's not. You're not a guy you wouldn't understand. So there's no need to even argue about this,"

"Of course not," I pull out my compact again and start applying makeup to my neck.

"What are you doing?"

"What does it look like?"

"Why would you cover the love marks I gave you? You never have before,"

"Because I just want to cover them,"

"You ashamed of me?"

I give him look that said: _Are you kidding me?_ "Don't be stupid, you know I'm not ashamed of you. I have no reason to be,"

"Then stop covering them,"

"I don't have to show them to prove I'm not ashamed of you,"

He crosses his arms and looks away from me. "Whatever, it's your body. Do what you want I guess," he grumbles.

"Great I will. I'm so glad you gave me your permission" I sarcastically, ignoring his attitude. I finished applying the makeup.

He looked out onto the highway and he started keeping watch. I had almost forgotten why I was here. After a few minutes I still saw the upset look on his face, I didn't need to turn on my empathy to know that his feelings were hurt.

"I'm sorry if I hurt your feelings,"

"Whatever it's fine," he says angrily.

"No it's not. Look, I just don't understand why you feel the need to "claim" me. Everyone knows we're together,"

"Not everyone, and that's not why I do it,"

"Well then explain to me,"

"You don't see the effect you have on people. Guys drool when you pass by. You're not a little girl anymore. Guys get at you all the time, even when I'm standing right there,"

"So what difference does it make?"

"It makes a huge difference. I mean yea guys will still check you out or whatever, but when they see the marks most of them will kind of back off. I'm surprised you don't notice the difference yourself,"

I lean against the tunnel wall while still looking out to keep watch. I try to think, to see if it was true or not. "I guess..."

"But it's stupid of me right?" He says sarcastically.

"I don't know. If it really bothers you and you think it makes a difference...I mean why do you even care if guys hit on me,"

"I think every guy fears that his girl might find someone better than him. And I just don't like seeing guys all over you. I know you can't help it, that's why I do some of the things I do."

"Ody, we've been together for almost three years. You know I love you. Why would I throw all of that away? You're sexy, smart, strong, caring. Pretty much everything I look for in a guy. I mean I crushed on you for like 4 years, come on now," I nudge him and I see a smile forming on his lips.

"I guess you have a point..."

"Of course I do. Why do you think I go ham (crazy) on all those girls that are all over YOU?" He chuckles and I could tell he was getting the point.

"Why? You know I'm crazy about you,"

"Yea, that doesn't mean I like watching girl throw themselves at you," I say flatly.

"So then you know how I feel," I looked at him and smirked. He was satisfied now, I guess we had worked this out.

"Yea, I guess I understand now." I glanced across the highway and I saw something unusual. "Ody..."

"What is it?" He looks at me then out across the highway. A kid who looked a lot like Ody from a distance was struggling to carry some old hag. He ran straight towards the highway frantically and I could finally see what he was running from.

"Gorgons," we say in unison. I grab my bow and sling my quiver over my shoulder while Ody took out his laser pointer and transformed it into his weighted gladius,tsunami.

The kid made it to the highway and I could see one of the gorgons almost get run over by a commuting car. I nocked an arrow and released it as one tried to grab him. It hit her in the in the chest, piercing her through the heart. It made her scream in pain but, she just pulled it out angrily and flew back into the air.

"What the f-" I caught myself and I nocked another arrow. This one hitting the other one reached for the boy. It hit her directly in the center of her forehead, sending her tumbling into the fast lane. A truck slammed into her and carried her backward maybe a hundred yards. She just climbed over a cab pulled the arrow out of her head, and launched back into the air.

The guy reached the door and I pulled him in. "Thanks. Good shot," I was too outraged and confused to really take in the complement.

"That should have killed her!" I yelled. The old woman smiled and shrugged her shoulders as if to say: yea, oh well.

"Welcome to my world," the boy muttered. I got caught off guard by how his voice sounded identical to Ody's. I looked at him and gasped. He was almost the same height, the same dark hair, complexion, sea green eyes, and amazing lips. The only difference would probably be that Ody was two inches taller, slightly more muscular and had that new Justin Bieber haircut that I loved.

"Lexi!" Ody yelled. "Get them inside quick!" I shake out of the weird trance I was in and remembered what was going on.

"Will the door hold them?" I asked.

In the boy's arms the woman cackled. "No, no it won't. Onward Percy Jackson! Through the tunnel, over the river!"

"Percy Jackson?" I repeated. I had heard the name a lot. Mostly on my quests with Ody, some monsters would mistake him for some kid named Percy Jackson, now I could see why. They were practically identical and...had the same last name?

"Nevermind, just come on," I say.

"I'll hold them off," Ody says.

"Ody, don't be crazy," I reached for him but he pulled away.

"Go!" He demanded.

I cursed under my breath and opened the door."Come on!"

The kid, Percy, followed staggering under the weight of the old lady. I was nervous about Ody and how he was going to hold off the gorgons on his own but I had faith in him.

The tunnel cut through solid rock, about the same width and height of a school hallway. At first it looked like a regular maintenance tunnel with electric cables, warning signs, fuse boxes on the walls and lightbulbs in wire cages along the ceiling. As we ran deeper into the hillside, the cement floor changed to tiled mosaic. The lights turned to reed torches, which burned but didn't smoke. A few hundred yards away I could see a square of daylight.

Percy's arms shook from the strain of holding the old hippie lady. She didn't seem to care either, she just mumbled a latin lullaby contently as if nothing was happening.

Behind us, the gorgons' voices echoed in the tunnel. Ody shouted in pain and I was tempted to run back and help but I had to get Percy to safety. Then the entire tunnel shook with the rumble of falling stone. There was an awkward and disgusting squawking sound. Percy and I glanced back. The west end of the tunnel was now filled with dust.

"Shouldn't we check on Ody?" He asked.

"He'll be okay...I hope," I said. "He's good underground. Just keep moving! We're almost there."

"Almost where?"

The old woman chuckled. "All roads lead there child. You should know that,"

"Detention?" Percy asked.

"Rome child," the old woman said. "Rome."

We kept running. The glow of at the end of the tunnel grew brighter, and finally we burst into sunlight.

Percy froze for a moment. Spread out at our feet was a bowl-shaped valley several miles wide. The basin floor was rumpled with smaller hills, golden plains, and stretches of forest. The Tiber river cut a winding course from a lake in the center and around the perimeter, like a capital G.

Since we were in northern California, the land was plagued with live oaks and eucalyptus trees, gold hills, and blue skies. Mount Diablo rose in the distance and in the center of the valley, nestled by the lake, was the city full of white marble buildings with red tiled roofs.

About two hundred yards away, just across the river, was a sort of military encampment. It was about a quarter mile square with earthen ramparts on all four sides, the tops limed with sharpened spikes. Outside the walls ran a dry moat, also studded with spikes. Wooden watch towers, rose at each corner, manned by sentries with oversized mounted crossbows. Purple banners hung from the towers. A narrower gate stood close on the riverbank side. Inside, the fortress bustled with activity; dozens of kids going to and from barracks carrying weapons, polishing armor. I could hear the clank of hammers at the forge and smelled meat cooking over a fire.

"Camp Jupiter," I said out of breath. "We'll be safe once-"

Footsteps echoed in the tunnel behind us. Ody burst into the light, and I was flooded with relief. He was breathing hard and covered with stone dust. One of the monsters had tagged him with a 50% of sticker.

"I slowed them down," he said." But they'll be here any moment any second.

I cursed under my breath again. "We have to get across the river."

I could see the old woman squeeze Percy's neck tighter. "Oh, yes, please. I can't get my dress wet."

Percy stumbled a few times as we ran for the river. Ody and I were the only ones keeping him on his feet.

We reached the riverbank, and Percy stopped to catch his breath. The current was fast, but the river wasn't too deep. Only a stone's throw across stood the gates of the fort.

"Go, Ody!." I nocked two arrows at once."Escort Percy so the sentries don't shoot him. It's my turn to hold off the baddies." Ody nodded and waded into the stream.

The gorgons screeched as they flew from the tunnel and I immediately let my arrows fly. I tried to hold them back hopefully long enough for them to get to the gate. I kept an eye on Ody and Percy with my peripheral vision and I released another arrow that hit one of the gorgons in the center of her eye.

From the middle of the river, Ody yelled, "Percy, come on!"

Up on the watchtowers, horns blew. The sentries shouted and swiveled their crossbows toward the gorgons, giving me a sense of relief. I ran towards the river while the sentries covered me. Percy reached the other side and put the old woman down as the camp's gates opened. Dozens of kids in armor poured out.

Ody turned with a relieved smile. Then he looked over Percy's shoulder, and his expression changed to horror. "Lexi!"

I was halfway across the river when the gorgons caught me. They swooped out of the sky and grabbed me by both arms. I screamed in pain as their claws dug into his skin.

The sentries yelled, but I knew they couldn't get a clear shot. They'd end up killing me.

The other kids drew swords and got ready to charge into the water, but they'd be too late. I looked down at Ody and screamed. "Ody I love you!" To be honest I was pretty sure I was about to die, at least he would know I was thinking of him in my last moments. I expected him to scream NOOOOOOOO! but he just gave the gorgons an angry, yet determined look.

Ody thrust out his hands and the Tiber obeyed his will. The river surged. Whirlpools formed on both sides of me. Giant watery hands erupted from the stream, copying Ody's movements. The giant hands grabbed the gorgons, who dropped me into the ice cold water in surprise. Then the hands lifted the squawking monsters in a liquid vise heard the other kids yelping and backing away, but he stayed focused on his task. He made a smashing gesture with his fists, and the giant hands plunged the gorgons into the Tiber. The monsters hit bottom and broke into dust. Glittering clouds of gorgon essence struggled to reform, but the river pulled them apart like a blender. Soon every trace of the gorgons was swept downstream. The whirlpools vanished, and the current returned to normal.

Percy stood on the riverbank. His clothes and his skin steamed as if the Tiber's waters had given him an acid bath. I stumbled around in the middle of the Tiber looking stunned. Ody waded out and helped me ashore. Only then did I realize how quiet the other kids had become.

Everyone was staring at Percy and only the old lady June looked unfazed.

"Well, that was a lovely trip," she said. "Thank you, Percy Jackson, for bringing me to Camp Jupiter."

Reyna made a weird choking sound.

"Percy…Jackson?" She sounded as if she recognized his name. Percy focused on her, for some reason. Maybe he picked up on her tone too. She wore a regal purple cloak over her armor. Her chest was decorated with medals. She was the same age as Ody, with dark, piercing eyes and long black hair. Percy didn't look like recognized her, but the Reyna stared at him as if she'd seen him in her nightmares

June laughed with delight. "Oh, yes. You'll have such fun together!"

Then, just because the day hadn't been weird enough already, the old lady began to glow and change form. She grew until she was a shining, seven-foot-tall goddess in a blue dress, with a cloak that looked like goat's skin over her shoulders. Her face was stern and stately. In her hand was a staff topped with a lotus flower. If it was possible for the campers to look more stunned, they did. Reyna knelt and the others followed her lead. One kid got down so hastily he almost impaled himself on his sword.

I was the first to speak. "Juno."I fell to my knees, leaving Percy and Ody the only ones standing. He didn't like Juno at all, and well I'm sure he wasn't too happy.

"Juno, huh?" Percy said. "If I passed your test, can I have my memory and my life back?"

The goddess smiled. "In time, Percy Jackson, if you succeed here at camp. You've done well today, which is a good start. Perhaps there's hope for you yet. Besides, don't you want to get to know your long lost twin brother?"

"My what!?" Percy says. Juno looks at Ody for a moment. I heard whispers and murmurs coming from the crowd of campers.

"Yes, you and Ody are twins." she says with an amused look. Percy's jaw drops and she turned to the other kids. "Romans, I present to you the son of Neptune. For months he has been

slumbering, but now he is awake. His fate is in your hands. The Feast of Fortune comes quickly, and Death must be unleashed if you are to stand any hope in the battle. Do not fail me!" Juno shimmered and disappeared. Percy looked at Ody and I for some kind of explanation, but we were just as confused as he was. In my hand were two small clay flasks with cork stoppers, like potions, one in each hand. I slip them into her pockets, and I would have to decide what to do with them later.

Reyna stepped forward and examined Percy warily, and I couldn't shake

the feeling that she wanted to run him through with her dagger.

"So," she said coldly, "another son of Neptune, who comes to us with the blessing of Juno."

"Look," he said, "my memory's a little fuzzy. Um, it's gone, actually. Do I know you?"

Reyna hesitated before answering. "I am Reyna, praetor of the Twelfth Legion. And…no, I don't know you." That last part was a lie. I could tell from her eyes. But he if Percy argued with

her about it here, in front of her soldiers, she wouldn't appreciate it.

"Ody," said Reyna, "bring your _twin_ inside. I want to question him at the principia. Then we'll send him to Octavian. We must consult the auguries before we decide what to do with him."

"What do you mean," Percy asked, "'decide what to do with' me?" Reyna's hand tightened on her dagger. Obviously she was not used to having her orders questioned. "Before we accept anyone into camp, we must interrogate them and read the auguries. Juno said your fate is in our hands. We have to know whether the goddess has brought us as a new recruit.…"

Reyna studied Percy as if she found that doubtful.

"Or," she said more hopefully, "if she's brought us an enemy to kill."

"I go too right? I mean I was there and I-"

"I believe you have stables to clean,don't you?" she says in a harsh tone.

"Well yea but-"

"Need I remind you that you are probation for all the trouble you've caused this week?" I stayed silent and looked down at my bow. "That's what I thought. Ody's report will do just fine. You are dismissed until I need you," she turns without another word and Ody shakes his head. He gives me a quick hug and a kiss on my cheek before he walks away leaving me cold, wet, and very upset..

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**I hoped you enjoyed the first chapter. The next chapter will be introducing new characters and don't worry, Frank and Hazel are still going to be included in the story of course. Oh and the next chapter should be up on Wednesday. Thanks for reading and feel free to message me or leave a review :)_ -A.G. Rodriguez_**


	2. Chapter 2

**Lexi's POV**

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"Are you okay?" I turn around to see Nathaniel, one of my sisters best friends. He was my favorite of her friends actually. He was a son of Apollo and man was he gorgeous. I would honestly pay for him just to smile at me. He was tall and lean with a tanned complexion and curly, light brown surfer style hair. He had one of the brightest smiles I ever seen and a dimple on his left cheek.

"Umm kind of," I say softly. He walks over to me and take a look at my arms.

"I'll fix you up when we get inside. It's not that-" he stopped talking and looked ahead. I wondered what he was staring at but then I saw my big sister Mackenzie running towards me. I could sense him getting nervous, and I knew exactly why too.

"Are you okay Lex?" She asks taking a look at my arms.

"Yea, I'm fine,"

"I was going to take care of the cuts and scrapes. It's not that bad, I omly need like 5 minutes," Nate says as we walk through the gates.

"So...did you tell Ody yet?" She asks. My cheeks start to get hot and I could feel my birthmark starts to tingle.

Okay so I had this weird but kind of cool dove shaped birthmark that looked like a tattoo the size of a toddlers fist. It was located on the lower right side of my abdomen right above my hip. It was actually a mark of the curse I had. My father knew very little about my curse but as I grew we found out more about it. When I had my first kiss, I ended up killing the boy on accident. Now you may think, seriously that's it? Well I'm a daughter of Venus, it's in my nature to be loving and affectionate, emphasis on the affectionate part.

So anyway, I can't kiss any male for long without killing him or putting him into a coma. I used to think that was it but of course it wasn't. My patron Apollo appeared to me in a dream 4 days ago telling me more about my curse...

_I stood in my own bedroom at my grandma's house. On the left side was my bookshelf, my desk and my walk in closet. And on my right was my bed, nightstand. In the font of the room was a plasma tv on the wall and underneath was my vanity and "makeup center". When I turned back around I saw Apollo on my bed. I automatically kneeled respectfully._

_"Hello beautiful," he says in a sing song voice. I fight the overwhelming urge to roll my eyes at him._

_"Hello Lord Apollo. It's nice to see you," I say as nicely as I could. He flashes me a smile that nearly blinded me._

_"I know it is huh? Ah well let's get to business. I didn't come here to chat about the weather and how sexy I am," he says with a playful wink._

_"What did want to talk to me about,"_

_"I'm afraid it's about your curse. I promised you and your sister that I would help you understand and break your curse before you agreed to my terms of patronship," he begins. "Well first tell me what you know about the curse my dear,"_

_"Well I know that it was a curse placed on Harmonia, from the House of Thebes by Vulcan. Most of her female descendants received it. But the curse wasn't just on Harmonia and her female descendants. It was passed down onto all of the most powerful children of Venus. I don't know which of the two I am," I say._

_"Well you should. It's pretty obvious. Has anyone told you that you look just like Deianira,"_

_"The princess of Calydon? Hercules's last wife?"_

_"You are a powerful daughter of Venus. Do any of your siblings have empathy? Can they manipulate auras and create balls of pure spiritual and emotional energy?" I was stumped on that one. My sister had the rare ability to charmspeak and manipulate her appearance, but yet she didn't have the curse._

_"No...but how come Mackenzie isn't cursed? She's powerful and she would have to be a descendant of Harmonia too,"_

_"Not nearly as powerful as you. Anyway,what else do you know my dear?"_

_"My curse is pretty much that I can't give the most basic of affections which is contradictory to my nature. And if I do, I can kill someone,"_

_"Oh it's much more than that I'm afraid. I just decided to wait a while before I revealed this to you," my stomach churned and I braced myself for what he was about to say. "You also can't have sex either. And that's bad because in order to break your curse you need to lose your virginity by your culture's coming of age. That means you have until you turn 15,"_

_"But that means I only have a month! How am I supposed to lose my virginity if I kill everyone I kiss and I can't have sex!? How can I possibly hope to break the curse!?" The dreams starts to fade, I was waking up._

_"To break your curse you need to remember three things. Immunity. Virginity. Eternity. I'll have to explain more later,"_

"But-" the dream had ended and I woke up sweating and panting. I only told my sister about it and she said I should tell Ody. I was supposed to tell him while we were in the tunnel but I couldn't seem too. I felt like a woman telling her husband that she had a terminal illness and that she only had about a month to live.

"No, I haven't told him yet,"

"Lexi! You promised me you would tell him today!"

"I know! And I will, just later,"

My sister sighs heavily and I know that Nate was confused about what we were talking about. He sat me down at a table and pulled out a first aid kit and started tending to my arms.

"Your boyfriend has a right to know Lex,"

"I know and I want to tell him. It's just, I don't want to cause him to go into a depression or go crazy and go to extreme lengths to try and preserve my life,"

"I know how he can get, but you can't leave him in the dark about this. He loves you too much for you to be keeping huge secrets from him and...you don't have much time left," I looked up from my arm to see Mackenzie. Her eyes were kind of watery and I could tell she was 30 seconds away from crying.

"Whoa, whoa,whoa. What's going on? You act like she's about to die or something," Nate says budding into the conversation. But after he said that Mackenzie couldn't hold back her tears. She broke down crying and I could feel my heart breaking.

"Someone please tell me what's going on?" He finished fixing up my arm and I stood up.

"Kenzie...you can uh, tell Nate everything. You should need someone to talk to about this anyway. I'm gonna go get started in the stables. I'll see you two later," I say softly. I turn my back to them before they could see the tear escape from my eyes.

I hurried off down the road towards the stables and I happened to run into Don who was wearing an old faded Hawaiian shirt and rainbow tinted glasses. I wasn't really in the mood for his craziness right now.

"Lexaay!" He calls out. He trots towards me and I continue to walk.

"Hi Don, look this really isn't a good time,"

"Oh that's cool, that's cool. Well I was just wondering if you had a few Denarii to spare cuz' you know that troll won't let me over the bridge if I don't pay him," I roll my eyes at him.

"Don, there are no trolls here and there is no one tolling the bridges. I would know, I go there all the time," It was actually true. It was one of the places Ody and I always like to hang out when we had time to kill. I finally figured out what I wanted to do with Ody this evening.

"Right...but do you have 3 denarii?"

"I'll give you 10 denarii if you do something for me," I say sweetly. His face lights up taking the bait.

"10 denarii!? What do I have to do?"

"I want to have a romantic picnic with Ody tonight. I'll get everything together and I need you to take it to the Temple Hill bridge before dinner and set it up for me,"

"Oh that's it? Consider it done,"

I stick my tongue out to the side as I dig into my pocket for the money.

"Here's half. I'll give you the other half after the job is done. Come by my barrack at before roll call to get the stuff,"

"You got it! Man I just love you!" He says giving me a tight hug after he took the money into his hands.

"Yea, yea. Well if you don't mind I have stables to clean. I'll see you later,"

"Alright, peace little flower," he says smoothly. He trots away happily and starts showing off to his buddies how he had scored some denarii. I shook my head and walked to the stables.

I sighed as soon as got there. The smell made my stomach do somersaults and the sight of all the flies and gnats made me almost puke. Gods I hated stable duty.

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**Ody's POV**

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I walked Percy, who was apparently my twin brother, to the Principia to be interrogated by Reyna. Then we walked over to Temple Hill. It was kind of sad to see how disapointed he was when he saw the sorry excuse for a temple the put up for our father. He seemed pretty lost and I nearly choked up watching him almost cry as he put offered a stale bagel and asked for guidance. In my head I couldn't help but think; good luck with that. That overbearing douche bag could care less about us.

After taking Percy to Jupiter's temple to receive his augury from Octavian, we walked to the cafe where I bought him a cherry muffin and a cappuccino since he was starving. I also decided to buy some chocolate chip cookies for Lexi and a croissant and a latte for myself.

"So umm, where are we going now?"

"To my barrack. We need to get you some clothes and a bath before evening muster,"

"Oh great!"

"So let's talk. Do you remember having a girlfriend?" He gives me a nervous look and I could see him hesitate to answer.

"Well yea, at least I think so," he said. He told me about this girl named Annabeth and everything he remembered which wasn't much. "What about you? Is Lexi your girlfriend?" He asked. A smile formed on my face. Sometimes I still couldn't believe I was really with her. "Yea, we've been together almost 3 years now," I nearly laughed when Percy's eyes got all wide.

"Really!?" He says in disbelief. I nod my head.

"Yup our anniversary is on the 21st of August,"

"So you got with her 3 days after your 14th birthday?"

"Yup. I finally found the courage to ask her out,"

"And have you guys...you know?" he asks shyly.

"Had sex?"

"Yea, have you?"

"No, I told her I'd wait until she was ready. And so far she hasn't told me anything. I meam there were times I felt like we were going to, or maybe she was ready and she wanted to talk about it. But it never happened. But I got to see her naked," I bounce my eyebrows and Percy whistles. I mean I didn't see everything. Just her backside in the moonlight. We had been on a quest and we made camp by a lake where we bathed and washed our clothes. I wasn't supposed to but I peeked and she never found out either.

"So you're a virgin?"

"Oh no, no, no. I lost my virginity with my ex about 4 months before I got with her,"

"You lost your virginity when you were 13!?"

"Well...yea. And to Lexi's half sister,"

"Whoa! You went out with her sister!?"

"Well yea...I mean Lexi doesn't like her plus they're only related on their moms side,"

"Who's her mom? Aphro-I mean Venus?"

"Yeaup. So what about you? Are you a virgin?"

"No, I don't think so,"

"Well how old were you when you lost your virginity?"

He frowned as if it hurt to think. "I'm not sure...I think it was pretty recent though,"

"Oh well that's good. I haven't had it in years,"

"Giving up 3 years of sex doesn't bother you?"

"It did for the first few months. I was a like a junkie going through withdrawals. But then I kind of learned to live with it. I love her too much to dump her or cheat on her. Besides she became the only thing I wanted. And I'm sure we'll be doing it all the time once she's ready. It's in her nature," I say with a mischievous smile.

"Wow, that's amazing," he says. I walk up to Lexi and Mackenzie's barrack. I remembered that she said she was going to be here around this time.I handed Percy the bag of cookies and walked inside to see them working at a big work desk and table full of scientific equipment and all kinds of notebooks, papers, bottles, and chemicals. It also smelled really, really good. Plus they were playing one of my favorite songs on the radio.

"I finished the second one. It smells good too," Lexi says spraying perfume into the air near her sister so she could smell it.

"Oooh I like that one. Try it with a 17% concentration," Kenzie says before returning back to her work. I slowly walk up towards them, hoping they wouldn't hear or notice me.

"That's not too much?" She says labeling the bottle of perfume she just sprayed.

"No, according to my research, and experiments the concentration gets to be dangerous at 21% and higher. We should be safe,"

"Okay, whatever you-ah!" They both jump as I grab Lexi and hug her from behind. When she realized it was me she laughed.

"Dammit Ody! You nearly gave me a heart attack!" Mackenzie yells. I give her a mischievous smile and she smacks arm.

"Well sorry," I say half-heartedly. I was too distracted by what Lexi was looking like. She was still wearing my sweater from earlier but instead of jeans she wore black and white tribal printed leggings that made her ass look great. She was also wearing her nice black and white name brand sneakers that looked like expensive basketball shoes. Her thick chocolate-brown hair that she usually wore in a ponytail or slicked bun was left down. It actually was about 2 or 3 inches past her shoulders, and that was only in its curly state. It was probably longer than her sisters. "Still wearing my sweater I see,"

She smiles and grabs the bottom of the sweater. "Well let me just..." she pulls it up as if she was going to take it off, flashing me her bra and-

"Lexi!" Kenzie and I yelled in unison. She laughed and I quickly pulled down the sweater.

"That's so inappropriate," Mackenzie says in a scornful tone.

"Yea yea. Like you haven't seen me in my underclothes before,"

"You think I want my newly discovered brother seeing all my girlfriend's goodies!?" I mean like it wasn't like I minded seeing...

Lexi looks over her shoulder and sees Percy. She gasps and starts to turn from her light caramel complexion to tomato red.

"Oh my gods Percy. I am so sorry, I didn't even know you were here. You were so quiet!"

"You can relax, I didn't see much," my eyebrow lifts and Lexi put her hands on her hips. "Oh not that you don't have boobs or anything they actually look pretty-" My eyes get big and he stops. "I mean Ody pulled the sweater back down before I could really see anything." He says saving himself.

"Anywho... so umm how did it go? I'm guessing Octavian approves?"

"Yea he did. I have to hurry and get Percy his clothes, take him to the bathhouse to get washed up and then take him to Reyna before roll call this evening,"

Mackenzie looked at the clock on the wall. "You only have about an hour."

"You need to hurry, what are you doing here?" Lexi asks.

I hold my hand out to Percy and he hands me the bag of cookies. "Well I was walking to my barrack and I decided to come check on you since you said you'd be here. Plus I bought you some cookies from Bombilo, he made sure to give you the ones with extra chocolate chips," I hand her the beg and she jumps with excitement.

"Oh thank you! You didn't have to!" She says giving me a tight hug. Her big green,bubbly, baby doll eyes sparkled with excitement as she opened the bag. I mean Lexi went nuts for fresh chocolate chip cookies.

"It was no problem. Percy and I grabbed a little something and I just thought of you. You're right though, I don't have much time,"

"Well I'll let you go then," she says putting the cookies down. I wrap my arms around waist and pull her closer to me.

"Okay, I'll see you after roll call," she gets on her tippy toes and I lean in so she could give me a kiss on the cheek.

"Okay, see you in a bit," I give her several kisses in her cheek and she giggles. The we separate and I walk towards the door.

"Bye Kenzie, see you laters," I throw up a peace sign and leave the room.

"Sorry about the whole boobies thing," Percy says nervously.

"No problem, it's not your fault my girlfriend decided to flash me. I hope that wasn't my surprise,"

"What?"

We make a left and walk straight into my barrack. There were five bunks lined up on the right side of the room and the bathroom, closet, and small armory for our personal weapons, and a tv. As soon as you walk into the room you could see a small desk, and a bookshelf. No one in our barrack has yet to use either.

"When we were in the tunnel she told me she had a surprise for me. I'm sure she was just being spontaneous..."

"Is she "spontaneous" all the time?" He asks.

I laughed and pull out a big trunk from underneath my bed. Inside were some old clothes that I really didn't wear anymore.

"No, not really. She's been acting kind of strange over the past few days. More reckless, spontaneous, impulsive. It's not like her," I hand him a stack of clothes and point towards the bathroom. "Try these on and later we could buy you a new set of clothes," he nodded and walked into the bathroom.

I grabbed my blue letterman jacket and black snapback that Lexi bought for me,and sat it down next to me on the bed. As I waited for Percy I relaxed and thought about it for a moment. Lexi had been acting kind of weird lately. I feel like she wants to tell me something important, I hope it's nothing bad...

* * *

**I hope you enjoyed this chapter. The next will most definitely be up on Friday. Thanks for reading :) **


	3. Chapter 3

**Lexi's POV**

* * *

I was glad to see that my sister and I had made progress. We created two variations of a new perfume. She left pretty early after typing up and saving the formulas we used, and cleaning her area. I was the one left to bottle the samples, and put away most of the equipment.

I walked over to my bed and grabbed my purple duffel bag. Inside was a picnic blanket, some candles, a cornucopia,cups, plates, utensils, napkins, a portable DVD player, and everything else we might need. Just in time Don knocked on the door.

"Hey," he looks around to make sure no one's watching. He wasn't even allowed to be in this area, so I appreciated the risk he was taking. "Do you have the stuff?" he looks over his glasses and I nearly laughed. Don was acting like we were making an illegal exchange or something.

"Yea, it's all in here," I hand him the duffel bag and he puts it over his shoulder. "Here, take this," I pull out one of the extra compact mirrors I always carried and handed it to him.

"What's this for? I don't wear makeup," he raises it up to his mouth.

"No! Don't eat it. It's so I can get in contact with you. It'll vibrate when I'm calling you. I have to make sure you're ready and all that,"

"Oh okay, cool cool." he says slipping it into his shirt pocket.

"Okay, so set it up nice and neat please. There's some rose petals, and candles, and stuff like that. DO NOT EAT THEM," I warn.

"Okay, okay sheesh. It'll be fine, I got this sweet biscuit," I continue to hold in my laughter.

"Here, I have something for you," I grab a plastic bag full of soda cans and vegetable scraps from the kitchen. His eyes light up when he sees it.

"For me!? Aww you shouldn't have!"

"I just want you to do a good job. I really need this to work out. Remember the 5 denarii..."

"Oh yes! I wouldn't dream of forgetting that. Don't worry I won't let you down. Hey...don't you have to get to roll call?" I gasped and covered my mouth.

"Yea, I have 10 minutes. I'll see you later okay," I say quickly.

He smiles and gives me a quick hug. "Okay. See you soon," he walks away cheerfully and I hurry and change into my armor.

* * *

**Ody's POV**

* * *

"Dude! That was great!" Percy says enthusiastically. Our hair was still wet from the baths but we were wearing fresh clothes and we were both clean. Percy and I suited up and walked down for roll call. Reyna was riding her pegasus when she saw us.

"Ah Percy, go with these gentleman here. You must stand before the legion so we can put you into a cohort," she says. She eyes me for a moment then rides away. I saw Frank in his spot for roll call and I walked over to his side.

"Hey Frank,"

"Oh hey Ody. How's it goin'?"

"Uhhh...pretty good I guess. I get attacked by two gorgons, almost lose my girlfriend, find out I have a new brother and blah blah blah. It's been a long day,"

"A very interesting one too," Frank adds. He slings his bow and quiver over his shoulder. Dakota and Gwen call us to attention and the roll call starts. Usually from my spot I could see Lexi, but right now the spot where she was supposed to be standing was empty.

"Hey, have you seen Lexi?" I whisper.

"No, I haven't seen her since she was at the stables. Why?" he looks over towards the direction I was looking at. "Oh...well I guess she's just running late today,"

"That's unlike her...usually she's here a little early so she could socialize and all that,"

"Give her a break Ody. She'll be here. You worry too much,"

"No it's just that-"

"Ody Jackson!"

"Here!" I yell strongly Dakota nods and checks me off.

"Look, there she is," Frank points to my left and I could see Lexi running frantically to get to her spot. She hadn't even looked my direction either. She got to her spot just as her name was being called. I watched as she caught her breath and started talking to some guy in front of her. He whispered in her ear and handed her something in her hand. She smiled and slipped whatever it was into her bra.

Roll-call went on and Percy was accepted into the fifth cohort, which wasn't really a surprise. Just as we were dismissed for dinner I caught Lexi talking to another guy, she pulled out something and handed it to him. I honestly wasn't comfortable with what I was seeing, so I hurried up and walked over to her.

"Hey babe," I say as I wrap an arm around her waist.

"Oh hey Ody," she says softly. The guy had an irritated look on his face as if I had just ruined his master plan.

"Well I'm gonna go to dinner. We can talk about that thing later,"

"Oh okay, sure ," she says with a huge smile that made her dimples look even deeper. The guy waved and walked off to his group of friends.

"What was all that about?"

"What? Who Henry?"

"Whoever he is. What "thing" is he talking about?" she laughs lightly.

"Oh it's nothing serious," she takes off her helmet and shakes out her hair.

"Well then it shouldn't be a secret then,"

"Ody, chill alright. That's between Henry and I, you need to trust that when I say it's nothing serious then that's what I mean," her face becomes more serious and she looks down towards the ground.

"I don't appreciate you keeping things from me. I thought you told me everything,"

"Hold that thought babe," she says holding up a finger. She walks away and pulls out her magical compact to call someone. She whispers secretly and every time I took a step closer she took a step farther away. I hated secrecy and I hated when she avoided answering my questions. She's been acting too strange, I needed to have a serious talk with her tonight.

I sighed and kicked rocks as I waited impatiently. When she was done she smiled and walked back over to me."Can we go to dinner now?" I asked flatly.

"Yea, you hungry?" She starts messing with the charm on her necklace nervously.

"Starving,"

"Okay," she takes me hand and stands closer to me. "Let's go then," she leads me towards the dining pavilion but once we get there she makes a wrong turn.

"Uh, the food is that way," I say looking back over my shoulder.

"Ody, please be quiet," she says softly. I give her a confused look. Where was she taking me? The bridge?

Then it all came to me. This must of been the surprise she was talking about. Well at least I hope this is what was going on. I stayed quiet and followed closely behind.

I was right. She did lead me to the bridge. She finally let go of my hand and I started crossing.

"No, come here," she says softly. She didn't seem too happy or excited. I had a bad feeling about this. Something had to be wrong. I followed her underneath the bridge and my eyebrows lifted once I took in the scene.

There was a large blue picnic blanket laid out with rose petals scattered around it. There were candles that lit up the area. It smelled like cotton candy and vanilla.

"Wow...this is nice. You did all of this?" She shakes her head slowly and sits down on the blanket.

"No...I had some help," she admits. There was a sad look in her eyes and I became confused all over again.

"What's wrong? Did I do something?"

"No Ody, you didn't do anything. She pulls out a small coin purse and walks out from under the bridge. Just as I was about to follow her she came back.

She silently set the plates and utensils out and I didn't see any food. Before I opened my mouth she pulled out the cornucopia she had gotten on our 3rd quest together. She grasped it and closed her eyes. It spit out pizza and hot wings that made my mouth water. Then she filled our cups with apple cider and fixed her plate.

"You gonna eat?" She says gently before taking a bite out off a spicy chicken wing.

"I want you to tell me what's wrong. Something's up with youand it's bothering me," she sighs and lifts her cup and sips the cider.

"We'll have plenty of time to talk after we eat," she finally answers. I pick up a slice of pizza and drop it on my plate. I could feel the anxiety taking over me. Something was so, so wrong. I mean Lexi was the sweetest, bubbliest girl ever. But now she looked depressed. Her eyes started to get watery and my heart started to break. I had lost my appetite.

"Lex..." I reached for her hand but she pulled away from me.

"You should eat," she wipes away the tears that threatened to fall and stood up.

"Lex-"

"I'll be right back," she jumps up and walks out from under the bridge again. I waited a few minutes to see if she'd come back, but I'm not the type of person that liked to sit and wait. My ADHD just didn't allow it. I stood up and went after her.

I looked around and found her farther down the river sitting on the bank. Her head was in her hands and from the way her body contracted I could tell she was crying. It took me less then a minute to walk over and sit next to her.

"Lex, baby...please talk to me," I say gently. I pull her hands down from her face and I could see her face and eyes were red.

She even looked beautiful when she cried...but I still didn't like her crying. I pulled her into my arms and cradled her like a baby.

Her face was pressed against my chest and she continued to cry.

"Lexi...you're scaring me babe. Just tell me whats wrong," I wipe a tear from her eye and she sniffs.

"There's, there's something I need to tell you," she manages to say. My heart started to race in anticipation.

My thumb stroked her cheek soothingly and I gave her a kiss on her forehead. "I'm listening. You can tell me,"

Lexi bites her lip and sniffed softly. "I uh-talked to Apollo about 4 days ago. And he told me more about my curse,"

My heart skipped a beat when she mentioned her curse, we didn't know much about it. When Apollo offered to be her patron he had promised he would help her understand it and break it. If whatever he told her had this effect on her...it had to be pretty bad.

"What did he say?"

"He explained some things to me, and well I have until my 15th birthday to break the curse,"

"Or what?"

"Or I...die," she says softly. Her lip quivered and I could see more tears forming. Even my eyes started to burn from the tears I felt coming on.

"But... that's in like 4 weeks. How are we-" I pause when my voice quivers a bit. "Did he tell you how to break it,"

"My dream faded before he could finish. He told me, he would explain more later,"

"What!? There's no time!" She sits up and crawls out of my lap.

"Don't you think I know that!" She snaps.

"Ody, I can feel myself...slowly dying. I felt it before Apollo told me anything and now-it's just so real. I'm really about to die,"

"Don't say that!?" I growl. Usually she would just back down and take back what she said but she was too serious.

"Dammit Ody! Out of the hundreds of people cursed there are only stories of about 3 survivors. I don't have a really good chance-"

"No! You're going to live. We are going to break this curse. No matter what it takes," she looks up at me and the moonlight glitters in her eyes.

"Ody-"

"No! We're going to break this curse!" I pull her close and hold her against me tightly. "I can't lose you Lex..I love you,"

"I love you too," she says gently. I kiss her on her cheek and continue to hold onto her. This was going to be a long night...

* * *

**Mackenzie's POV**

* * *

I walked to dinner and sat next to my boyfriend Jeremy. He wraps his arms around me possessively and talks with his buddies. Across the room was Nate who sat on the couch eating a burger next to Hazel, Frank, and Don. What was strange was that Ody and Lexi wasn't with them...

"Jeremy?" I say taping him lightly.

He rolls his eyes and turns toward me. "What do you want!? Can't you see I'm talking!?

"Have you seen my sister?" I ask gently.

"No, I haven't seen your fuckin' sister. Wish I had though. I'd pay to tap that ass,"

"Don't talk about my sister like that," I growl. Our table gets quiet and he glares at me.

"Watch how you talk to me," he warns.

"Then watch how you talk about my sister and friends. You don't have to be such an ass," I stand up to leave but he grabs my wrist.

"Where do you think you're going?"

"Somewhere away from you," I turn but he pulls me down forcefully.

"Wrong answer," he squeezes my arm causing me slight pain and I got the message: If I leave I'm gonna pay for it later. Hell who was I kidding, I was already gonna get it for challenging him right now. Might as well get what I wanted out of it.

"Oh it's the right answer," I snatch my hand away and quickly lock eyes with Nate from across the room. I hoped he could tell from my eyes that I was screaming "help!" Lucky for me he did and stood up.

"Sit down," he growls. I flash him a sarcastic smile and grab my plate of food.

"I'll see you later," he reaches for me but I moved just in time for him to miss.

"Mackenzie! I swear if you dont-"

"Is there a problem?" Nate says smoothly as he takes a step towards me.

"Stay out of this Breeze," he warns.

"Nate, let's just go sit over there. I need to talk to you about something anyway," he gives me a look that said: _Are you sure? I'm pretty sure I can take him._

I sit down on one of the couches and Nate joins me shortly. From across the room I could see Jeremy glaring at me and I could feel my anxiety building up.

"What did you want to tell me?" he asks.

"I wanted to ask you if you'd seen Lexi,"

"No, but Don told me she paid him ten denarii to set up a romantic picnic somewhere. He said it was very important to her,"

"Oh she's probably telling him about her talk with Apollo,"

"That's what I thought until I saw Jake Miller slipping her some condoms during roll call,"

"What!?"

Nate looked around like he didn't want anyone to hear," Yea, I asked him about it but he just denied it, but I know what I saw,"

I pull out my compact and open it quickly. "Call Lexi," I say into the speaker. The mirror begins to glow and I wait for her to answer. "I swear if she doesn't-"

"What!?" she answers grumpily.

"Where are you?" I ask. From what I could see she was somewhere dark and I think she was sitting in Ody's lap. I see his hand travel to the center of her chest and he starts to play with the charm on her necklace.

"Don't trip. What do you want?" she lays her head back onto Ody's chest and her starts to run his fingers through her hair.

"I want to know why Jake gave you condoms during roll call," I snap.

Her face becomes pale and I could tell she was trying to think of a quick come back or cover up.

"He gave her what?" he says grabbing the compact. Now I could clearly see his shocked face.

"Ody! Give it back!" She yells.

"Jake slipped her some condoms during roll call," I repeat. He looks down at Lexi with an arched eyebrow.

"What is he doing giving you condoms?" He asks.

She grabs the compact and stands up. She starts to walk away from him and I could see him close behind following her.

"Are you gonna answer my question?" He persists.

"Nope, so you might as well stop asking. It's none of your business," she says flatly.

He puts his hand over his heart as if he was having a heart attack. "It's none of my business? Seriously!? I don't have the right to know why my girlfriend is getting condoms from other boys,"

"No you don't," she says stubbornly.

"Lexi! I'm gonna ask you one more time-"

"I'm not takling about this with either of you. So just get the fuck off my back." she looks back down into the compact. "Thank you so much Mackenzie for making my night even worse. I guess that's what sisters are for," she slams the compact shut, ending the call.

"Wow...I've never seen her like that before,"

"She's just embarrassed. She doesn't like when people question her decisions,"

Nate runs his fingers through his hair. "Have you or your dad talked to Lexi about sex?"

"Not really. I mean yea I've told her about my first time and all that, but she never talked about how she felt about sex," I say softly.

"And Ody looked like he had no idea why she would need or want condoms," he said with a slight frown.

"I know huh? Why do you think he reacted like that?"

"Well...I would find it suspicious if my girlfriend was getting condoms from some guy. Especially if we haven't talked about or had sex. What would she need them for?"

"Well maybe she wanted to surprise him with sex?" I say as I think about the possibility.

"Okay...but of all the people to get condoms from she chooses to get it from Jake? Why hadn't she asked you or one of your sisters? How come she just didn't buy a pack on her own?"

"I don't know...that would have been the smart thing to do,"I look up as I hear the horns blow from the other side of the hall. everyone jumped up to get their equipment including Nate and I.

Time for war games...

* * *

**Thanks for reading :) I hoped you liked this chapter, I promise the next will be better though. There will be some...mature content that'll spice things up and it should be posted on Sunday. **


	4. Chapter 4

**_Authors Note:_**

**_Okay, I know I said I'd have this chapter up by Sunday but I didn't have access to a computer. Sorries! Anyway there's somethings I wanted to say before you read this chapter. First I'm gonna start saying the dates and times so you don't get confused between what's going on at Camp-Half Blood and Camp Jupiter. I'll be introducing 1 more main character and I just thought you'd have a lil taste of Camp Half-Blood right now. That's pretty much it. Please R&R. enjoy :)_**

* * *

_**Camp Jupiter**_

_** June 14th 10:00 PM**_

* * *

**Mackenzie's POV**

* * *

War games went as usual. The first and second cohort won and we were dismissed either to get first aid or go to bed. Lexi wasn't talking to me but I was able to catch Ody and Percy before they went to their barrack.

"What happened after she hung up? I'm sorry if I started something," I say softly.

"She pretty much ended the picnic. She avoided all of my questions which made me mad and now she's not talking to me. I'm just going to give her some space, she needs some time alone I guess,"

I purse my lips before I answer. " She'll probably be fine by tomorrow, you know Lexi, she never stays too mad for long," he gives me a half-hearted smile and nods.

"I hope so," he starts kicking rocks and I didn't need empathy to know he was extremely worried and upset about Lexi.

"Hey umm Ody?" Nate says squeezing in between Ody and I.

"Yea?"

"Can I talk to you for a sec?"

I got a good look at Ody and I could tell he was tired and worn. I mean the day had been extremely long and busy. "Yea, sure," he says flatly.

We all notice Lexi as she stormed past us angrily without saying a word. I had been too busy paying attention to my sister that I missed the short conversation between Nate and Ody.

"Well I'll see you two late," Ody says gently. He waves before walking away to join Frank and Hazel.

Nate smiles and takes my hand. "What are you doing?"

"I want to show you something," he says mischievously. Something told me that he had some rule-breaking planned...

* * *

**45 Minutes Later...**

* * *

I was definitely right about the whole rule-breaking thing. We had snuck out of the camp from the borders and he guided me to a "surprise". Little did I know that the surprise was at the Alameda docks. The moonlight reflected off the top of the water. I smiled as I breathed in the salty sea air and looked out at the romantic San Francisco Bay.

"What are we doing here?" I ask. He puts a finger over his mouth and pulls me down the dock. I wish I had brought a jacket, because it was FREEZING. We passed yachts and fishing boats until finally we arrived at a nice luxury motor boat that looked like it cost half a million dollars.

"Ody and Harry (son of Vulcan) has been working on it for two months. It's nice huh?"

"It's beautiful. I wonder why Lexi hasn't told me about it,"

"Because Lexi doesn't know. Ody wanted a boat, and he planned to bring Lexi on their anniversary,"

"That would be nice, she would love that,"

He walks up the railing and I follow him onto the deck. He gives me a short tour and I was pretty impressed. Ody had really outdone himself.

"Well if you're done showing me this luxurious boat, I think we could get going,"

"I didn't bring you just to see it." He turns on the engine and the boat starts to separate from the dock. It was magical.

We laughed, talked, sang, played around. I can't even remember how long it had been since I had this kind of fun. Suddenly the air became serious.

"Kenz...there's something I want to tell you," I look into his warm brown eyes, and wait for an answer. He clears his throat and scoots closer to me on the couch.

"What is it?"

"I...I love you," he manages to say. I freeze for three reasons. For one, Nate was never as nervous and tongue tied as he was now. Secondly, my best friend was telling me he loved me, and not the way best friends love each other. Third of all, well I felt the same way but there was that whole Jeremy issue.

Without even thinking I made my next move. Our lips pressed together and he put his hands on my hips so he could pull me closer. His breath was like mint chocolate, just delicious. He was a great kisser too.

We pulled away breathing hard and his eyes looked glossy, as if he were high or something. I smiled and decided to say exactly what I felt, "I love you too Nathan,".

He smiled sheepishly, then his face got serious. "I want to be with you Mackenzie..."

"But...Jeremy," I look down at my hands and I start playing with the edge of my shirt.

"Why are you even with him Kenz?"

"It's complicated Nate," I look out towards the water and let out a deep breath.

"No it's not. Its not rocket science, you either want to be with him or you don't," he says in a frustrated tone.

"It's more than that,"

"Why? Please explain to me why it's so complicated."

My eyes start to burn, which was a sign that I was about to cry. I kept telling myself to hold it together but I just couldn't. "I don't love Jeremy. I don't want to be with him, but everytime I try to break up with him..." I stopped and bit my lip.

"Does he hit you?" He puts his hand under my chin and turns my face towards him. His brown eyes were fierce and he wanted answers. I had to choose my next words carefully.

"Well, he can be a little rough sometimes but I don't think he means to hurt me," I lie. Jeremy was an abusive jerk who loved to see me in pain after I've done something to piss him off. I mean it could be triggered by anything.

"Tell me the truth Mackenzie, stop sugar coating things,"

"Well he does things to hurt me when I make him mad if I'm lucky he just calls me names and curses me out other times he-he-" I wipe a tear from my eye and sniffle a bit.

"Mackenzie I want you to break up with him. Not just for me but do it for yourself. It kind of hurts that you never told me that he hurt you. I would have done something a long time ago." He looks down to the floor of the deck. I really hoped he wasn't feeling guilty.

"Nate I want to but I'm...I'm scared," I cry. Oh gods...here comes the waterworks.

He looks up and cups my face in his hands. "There's no need to be scared. I'll be right there beside you if you want. He won't lay a hand on you,"

"But he'll just blackmail me or do something to Lex..."

"I'll let Ody know so he can look out for Lexi. Plus she can handle herself,"

"He'll just wait until I'm alone,"

"Then you'll never be alone," he says smoothly. He wipes a tear that had been sliding down my cheek and kisses me again.

This time I didn't hold back, I wanted Nate so badly. I wanted his love and support, his attention, his affection, everything. Now was my chance and I wasn't going to lose it.

My hands traveled to the bottom of his shirt and I slid it up a little so he knew I wanted him to take it off. He kissed me along my neck as he gently caressed my thighs. He grips the bottom of my shirt and slowly lifts it over my head. He smiled once he saw what I was wearing underneath it. I reached for his pants, unzipped them and he pulled them off.

We continued to undress each other until we were both pretty much naked. He hovered over me with a sexy look in his eyes and I start to get nervous. Was I really about to do this? And with him? He stopped kissing my chest when he saw the look on my face.

"Are you sure you want to do this...it's not too late to-" I cut him off with another kiss, which was enough to convince him to continue. He slipped off my panties and I used my legs to slide his down.

The rest was a blur of ecstasy. I mean I had heard he was good but it was different to experience it. I smiled lazily as I laid my head on his bare chest. His steady heartbeat had a soothing effect on me. Between that and the fact that we just made love to each other, I was pretty tired.

"I love you..." I whisper

He smiles as he runs his fingers through my hair. " I love you too Kenz,"

"How do you think Ody is gonna react when he finds out we had sex on his boat?" We exchanged slightly panicked looks before burst out laughing. I could just imagine the horrified and disgusted look on his face.

"Who said he has to know? What he doesn't know won't hurt him," he says with a mischievous smile.

"Well he's bound to find out. You can't hide these kind of things from Lexi,"

"We'll cross that bridge when we come to it," he kissed my forehead and I let out a soft sigh. For the first time in months I could say I was truly happy right now. Now all I have to worry about is how I was gonna break up with Jeremy. Then I'd be free...

* * *

**Camp Half-Blood **

**May 27th 6 AM**

* * *

**Maya :)**

* * *

Maya stopped by the Hephaestus cabin and as always Leo was already at Bunker 9. She sighed as she trudged through the woods. She was still excited to see her boyfriend even though she knew he forgot about his promise to be with her today. Lately he's spent every moment in Bunker nine sketching plans, working on engines and navigational equipment and all kinds of other small projects dealing heavy engineering for the Argo 2, a massive trireme that he hoped to finish in 3 weeks.

He was so dedicated to the project that he would go days without sleeping and sometimes eating. He didn't participate in camp activities, and he'd neglected his girlfriend. He practically lived in Bunker 9. Maya knew that Leo's project was important but she wanted to be with him so badly, so she offered to be his assistant. It didn't matter what he had her do or the fact they didn't even talk much. As long as she was by his side in his time of need she would be fine.

The door was open and there were a few of Leo's brothers and sisters already working at the work tables. I walked towards Leo's office and knocked on the door. Since the door was glass, I could see Leo standing over his table drawing and sketching something on oversized piece of paper. He looked up for a moment, gestured for me to come in, and went back to work. He didn't smile, he didn't wave happily, just gave her permission to enter the room. Maya didn't how to really feel about that.

She stayed quiet as she cleaned up a bit so she could make him some coffee. Then she picked up all the balled up paper thrown on the floor and put it into a box, she never threw them away since he would occasionally want a certain piece that he'd thrown away. That's where she would come in, she had to go through looking for that one wad, slip, or scrap of paper he needed.

She massaged his back when he groaned in pain, she made him coffee and made sure he ate, she delivered messages, sometimes he'd let her work on something with him, and she'd feel useful.

"Leo? Have you umm, eaten?" She asks softly.

"No, I took a shower and came straight down," he says monotonely.

"Is there anything you want me to do? I guess I'm free since my boyfriend forgot about our plans for today," she says as she walks to the door.

Leo froze for a moment. Then he sets his pencil down and slowly turns towards Maya with a guilty look on hos face. "I'm so sorry sweetheart I completely forgot, it's just I have so much work-" Maya really didn't feel like hearing another excuse, she'd heard it all and given him passes but now she was just tired of it.

"It's fine Leo. I get it. The Argo is more important than me, I won't ask you for anything." She says gently. She tried to hide the hurt in her eyes by turning her back to him.

"Maya please, don't act like this. Not right now,"

"Sorry I forgot, you have so many other things to worry about. Wouldn't want to add something else on Leo's list of problems," she says sarcastically as she stepped out the office. She turned back for a moment as a tear ran down her cheek. Leo actually looked conflicted, but Maya knew what he'd choose.

She walked down the steps and towards the small shed that the Hephaestus cabin had built for a small kitchen. Maya was the only one to really use it since most of their cabin couldn't cook. Often times she'd make pots full of anything that could be made in mass quantities; oatmeal, spaghetti, macaroni and cheese, hamburger helper, soup, hot dogs, chili and all that. Then she'd have Diana and Veronica, her best friends, help her serve the food.

Maya set to work in the kitchen. The magic fridge had conjured everything she needed. She made about 15 dozen eggs, tons of bacon and sausage, and she had lost count of how many pancakes. All of it was set in trays that were constantly warmed so it the food wouldn't be cold. Breakfast hadn't even be served in the dining pavilion yet so she knew all the kids that now filled the bunker hadn't eaten anything.

Table by table she gave them plates of food and finally Leo's sister,Nyssa, had offered to help. Together they were able to give everyone food within 30 minutes. She thanked Nyssa and gave her some fresh blueberries for helping her out. Then she worked on Leo's breakfast.

Usually he was served first but since she had been put on the back burner she didn't feel he deserved to be her priority. She fixed him one of his favorite breakfast meals and walked back up to his office.

She didn't say anything as she re-entered the office. She simply put the plate on his desk and poured him a cup of coffee.

"Maya..." he says gently. When she turns around Leo's warm brown eyes were fixed on her.

"Yea?" She hands him the cup and began cleaning the office again.

"I really am sorry. I promise I'll make it up to you," he says. He was building something small, something he always did when he was upset or nervous.

Maya snorts as if to say: yea right! But she wasn't mean, she wouldn't say anything like that to him. "That's what you always say Leo. I'm tired of hearing your excuses, I'm done begging you for time and attention. When you feel I'm worth it, feel free to let me know so we can go be an actual couple," she says bitterly.

"Maya that's not fair..." he says gently.

"Gods Leo! What do want me to say!? All I try to do is be supportive of you. I take care of you and I can't even get you take an hour out of your day to spend with me. Well damn, if I'm asking for too much then fine, I'm done asking. Focus your fucking ship,"

Leo was shocked by what she had said, usually Maya would just shrug it off and forgive him. Maya usually kept to herself, she was passive because she was too afraid to speak her mind and bad things happened when she didn't shrug things off and control her emotions...

"Do you realize you're asking me to choose between finishing a ship needed for several important quests and being with you? Maya you're important to me and I love you but I just wish you'd stop being this way, you know why I'm doing what I'm doing. I mean you don't see Jason, Piper, or Annabeth coming at me everyday so I can go hang out with them. They know how important this is," he says. He sets down a small helicopter he made out of some sort of metals.

Maya couldn't believe what she was hearing. "Of course they don't ask you for anything Leo! You hardly even see them! Annabeth shows up everyday just to see how things are going with the ship, why? Because she wants to see her boyfriend! Jason and Piper pop up every couple of days to check on you. Do they ever offer to help you!?" She yells.

"Well not exactly and I don't expect that," he says nervously. He probably realized he was losing this argument.

"Why not!? They're supposed to be your best friends!" He stayed quiet, probably trying to think of a comeback.

There was no going back now, Maya had been pushed over the edge. "You know why they don't offer to help!? You know why they only come to see you 2 days out of the fuckin week!? Well it's because they're busy making out and fucking each other. It's because they have a life and want to spent their last moments together before this quest. They spend every moment glued to each other! So who does that leave you with Leo?" Still quiet. Did he really not have anything to say? "I'm the only one besides your siblings by your side morning, day, and night! So don't talk to me about Jason, Piper, and Annabeth, and what they ask of you," She finally noticed the horrified look on Leo's face.

She looked around and saw that everything in Leo's office was levitating and shaking. Maya knew what would happen if she didn't calm down soon. She waited about a minute for a response and when she didn't get one she quickly walked out of his office.

* * *

_**Lol, I hope you enjoyed this chapter :) The next one will be up for sure on Wednesday. Feedback will be greatly appreciated! :P**_


	5. Chapter 5

**Camp Jupiter**

_**May 27 2:00 PM**_

* * *

**Leo**

* * *

Leo couldn't afford to be distracted from his work but he was. He had managed to drive away his first and probably only girlfriend he'd ever have. She was right about everything too. Jason and and Piper stopped by today, They talked about all the things that they'd done and Leo was pretty sure they'd left some things out. But they didn't have to tell Leo about their sex life because to be honest he didn't want to know, but he could tell something was definitely up. Piper glowed and Jason was super clingy and affectionate the whole time. Then Annabeth joined the party and as always she wanted reports of the progress.

"I don't really have any official reports right now," he said as he set back to work. Honestly Maya was the one who always looked around and made the reports. All Leo had to do was take 10 minutes out to read them to Annabeth when she his peripheral vision he could see the shocked look on her face.

"What do you mean you don't have any official reports. You don't know what you've been doing!?" She yells.

"Annabeth, I don't have time. If you want to see the progress then go downstairs and see for yourself," she huffs and exits the room angrily. There was no "How are you feeling Leo?" or "is there anything I can do to help move things along?"

The room went quiet and Leo made another mistake on the blueprint he was working on. He balled up the paper in frustration and threw it behind him.

"Leo, you look upset. How are things with you and what's her face? As a matter of fact where is she?" Piper asks as she looks around the office. He sighed and started on another blueprint.

"She's mad at me right now. She left this morning," he said vaguely. He didn't feel he should get into detail about his relationship issues. Jason raised an eyebrow.,

"Why is Maya mad at you?" He asks.

"I was supposed to take the day off to spend time with her but I forgot. She was mad because I tried to tell her I couldn't afford to take time off," Piper snorts and crosses her arms. Leo could feel the judgement coming on.

"That's stupid. Doesn't she know how important this project is? Does she honestly expect you to choose her over the world?"

She says while looking at Jason like: That bitch. Can you believe her?

"Oh please. Cut her some slack. She has every right to be mad at me,"

"Oh and why is that?" She asks. Leo's sto,ah growls and he looks at his watch. Damn, it's two o'clock, he thought to himself. He had gotten used to how Maya would bring him lunch around 12:30. Now he was hungry, which wouldn't help his current concentration problem at all.

"All she asked for was spend little time with me, which isn't much to ask. I should have been able to do that for her,"

"That's unrealistic. Especially with all of the work you have to do. I mean every hour could put you behind at this point. You would've had more work and less time. That's more of a strain on you." Piper says.

"She would have been here to help me. She works just as hard as I do," he sets his pencil down and stands up. "Besides, you don't have a right to judge her. It's not like you two help out. She's been there for me ever since I started the Argo, what have you done to help?"

Leo turns to Piper, who was sitting in Jason's lap. The room was silent until finally Jason spoke up.

"You never asked for help Leo," he says lamely. Now Leo couldn't believe what he was hearing. He couldn't believe how blind he was.

"Dude do I really need to ask? Both of you see how much pressure I'm under, you know how much work my siblings and I have to do. We shouldn't have to ask," he says. He could feel his anger rising but he finally figured out what he needed to do.

He had taken Maya and his siblings for granted. Leo realized than he was no better than Annabeth, Jason, and Piper. He never asked how they felt, or checked to see if they needed any addition. He had been asking for so much and forcing them to fend for themselves, what a great brother he was.

Without another word Leo walked out of his office and grabbed a megaphone. His heart sank as he saw his brothers and sisters laboring over their work. He hadn't noticed how they all their eyes were sunken in as if they were old. He hadn't noticed how sluggishly they moved, and how they had dark bags under their eyes. Plus all of them had at least one injury whether it was a small cut on their finger or a burn on their arm. The area was dirty and smelly, and Leo could point out at least ten safety hazards within 5 seconds. It looked like he was running some kind of illegal sweatshop.

He stood at the top of one of the tables turn on the alarm on the megaphone. Everyone turned and looked at him as if he lost his mind. Even Annabeth who was probably almost done making her rounds. Once he had gotten everyone's attention he turned the alarm off and cleared his throat.

"Hey guys. I have something to say," he starts. All the engines and machinery turned off and it became so quiet that you could hear even the slightest movement of paper or a bolt dropping to the floor. Leo was never good with big announcements or speeches, Maya had always spoken to them and delivered big messages. Now it was a more personal announcement.

"I'm am so sorry. I haven't been a good leader...or brother to you guys. I've been asking for so much and I haven't even offered any breaks. I haven't thanked any of you. I haven't even asked how you guys were feeling. I've been so consumed with the project that I've neglected my family and took my girlfriend for granted." He starts. He could feel his eyes getting watery and he

noticed Jason and Piper joining Annabeth."I know this is long overdue but thank you. I know you guys have been working so hard. That's why I'm happy to announce you have the rest of the day off," he finishes. Half of the cabin cheered while the other half looked uneasy.

"What are you doing!?" Annabeth yells angrily.

"What does it look like Annabeth?" He retort. Usually he was afraid and intimidated by her but not today, today I had to do the right thing.

"You guys don't have an hour to waste, let alone a day!" She rants.

Leo shook his head and he could tell some of his siblings agreed.

"She's right Leo. We're already behind, we just have too much to do, and there is too much at stake. We can't afford a break," Nyssa says uneasily. She started working again as she spoke.

"Look I get it. That's been my excuse for weeks, well actually months, but my point is that we can't keep spreading ourselves thin. I mean just one good nights rest has made a huge difference to me. I think we'll all be able to work faster, safer, and more efficiently if we just take some time off," he responds. Leo could see his siblings giving in to reason.

"Leo! Don't be stupid!" Annabeth yelled.

"Annabeth! You are not in charge here! You have no right to say anything! You haven't lifted a damn finger to help us! All you do is demand and criticise. I want you to leave unless you're here to help. As a matter of fact, no one will be allowed inside unless they are working on the Argo. The only exception will be Chiron and other staff here," he announces. He steps down from the table and turns off the power in the bunker. Leaving only the daylight outside to light the Bunker.

"Come on guys. Go relax and get some rest. Come back to work tomorrow morning," he orders. Slowly his siblings filed out of the Bunker, obeying his orders. He looked at the half finished trireme and let out a deep breath. He started questioning if he was making the right choice. Then he could hear his fathers voice in his head saying "Good job, I'm proud of you son,".

"Thanks dad," he says mentally. He walked over to a shelf and grabbed a notebook and some blueprint paper. Annabeth storms past him angrily and Jason and Piper walk out whispering.

"See you later Festus," he says before closing the door to the workshop. He took in a breath of fresh air and started walking.

Now all he had to do is fix things with Maya.

* * *

**Maya's POV**

* * *

I stormed through the woods angrily. I looked at my watch and I saw that it was only 9 in the morning. I realized that I had been so busy helping Leo and his siblings that I didn't even fix myself breakfast. My stomach growled and I decided to get some food.

A girl with light brown hair cut in a stylish bob cut and blue eyes tilted her head to the side as I walked towards her table. She stood up and gave me a hug, "I thought you were gonna be with Leo this morning. Where is he?" I gave her a look that said: you already know the answer to that. "Seriously! He went to work again?" I nod my head and she throws her hands up.

"Diana, I'll talk to you after breakfast. I'm kind of hungry,"

"Okay, I'll see you in a bit," she hugs me again and gives me a quick kiss on the cheek, something she always does when she greets or says goodbye to people. She rejoined her siblings at the Aphrodite table. Even though I didn't like most of the children of Aphrodite Diana had been my best friend since I arrived at camp. Plus I can never thank her enough for helping me get into a relationship with Leo.

I finally took my place among my siblings at Athena's table. I felt awkward and out of place every time I sat with them. They always talked about buildings, architecture, and other brainy things that I could care less about. I mean yea I guess you could say I was just as smart but not when it comes to the things my mom is known for. Annabeth started talking about the Argo and I rolled my eyes. She hadn't lifted a finger to help out but everytime she talked to our brothers and sisters she made it seem like the project would fall apart without her.

I was happy once I finished eating because I was able to meet up with my friends. We had free time so we walked to canoe lake as always and sat in the normal spot. I watched as Veronica sat down next to me. Her hazel eyes focused on me and she sighed.

"So what happened with Leo this time?"she asks. Her wavy black hair blew in the wind and made her look kind of glamorous, but I didn't say anything.

"I'm pretty mad with him. I woke up extra early and he didn't come to get me so I stopped by his cabin to see that him and half of his siblings were gone already. He had completely forgotten. After I fixed breakfast for everyone and went back up to his office he "apologized" " I say with air quotes.

Diana frowned and crossed her arms. "Then what happened?"

"I actually spoke up. I told him that I was tired of his excuses which sparked an argument. He said that I wasn't "being fair" and he acted like I was asking too much of him. Then he said "I mean you don't see Jason, Piper, or Annabeth coming at me everyday so I can go hang out with them. They know how important this is" " I say mocking his voice.

Veronica's jaw dropped and Diana had a look that said: Oh Hell No!

"Are you serious!" She shrieks.

"I know right! I told him off and after everything I had to say he didn't say one word. I had gotten so mad that I accidently made everything in his office levitate. I had to leave before someone got hurt," I look out onto the lake at some couples swimming and canoeing in the lake. Why couldn't I have a normal relationship?

"Well good for you. It's about time you spoke up for yourself. Maybe now he'll. get the message. And if not maybe it's best..."

"Diana no, I'm not breaking up with him. I haven't done everything I can yet. So I'm not throwing in the towel,"

"Man, you're one of the strongest people I know. If I were you I would have broken up with him a long time ago. I couldn't do what you do," Veronica says. She pulls out some strawberries she smuggled from the fields and ate one.

"Maya, what else can you do besides wait for him?" Diana asks.

"Well I can make it so he has no excuses," I pursed my lips as I thought of more ways to help. I snapped my fingers excitedly and Diana and Veronica looked at me like I was crazy.

"That's it! I figured out another way to help!? Come on! We have to go talk to Chiron!" I jump up and quickly sprint towards the Big House.

Two hours later...

It was now 11:00 and. I had just gotten my plans approved by Chiron. He thought it was a great idea too. We walked all over the camp asking for volunteers for the emergency assistance program. He had even excused us from all the activities so that Diana, Veronica and I could go around and recruit people.

So far I had 13 campers sign up which was plenty already. Diana managed to get 17 and Veronica got 21. To be honest I hadn't expected so many people to be willing to help. I walked back to my cabin and started planning while Diana and Veronica continued to recruit people. Now I knew how Leo felt when he gotten lost in his work. I jumped after someone wrap their arms around me from behind, He kissed me on the cheek and I froze in shock.

"Hey baby," he says smoothly, He smiled as I look at him and I couldn't believe my eyes. Was Leo really outside of the Bunker. Was he really standing in front of me?

"Hey," I say softly as I close the notebook I was writing in.

"What are you doing here?" I ask flatly. He sighs and takes a seat next to me at the table.

"I came for you,"

"Is that so?" I ask sarcastically.

"Yeaup. I gave everyone the rest of the day off too, I wanted to apologize... you were right about everything," he leans in and kisses me. I mean a real kiss with tongue and everything. It wasn't the quick peck on the cheek or lips that I usually got.

"It's okay Leo. I understand you're under pressure. Everyone is looking at you and your siblings to get this done. I know how important it is. I didn't mean to bug you or make you feel bad," I answer gently.

"You had every right to baby. It's okay," he kisses me again but this time he pulled me up from my seat and made me straddle him. "We all needed a break, besides you're not the only one I've neglected..."

"Leo..." he kisses me again and I start to run my fingers through his curly hair.

"I don't know where to go from here, I want to make things up to you. I love you," his eyes start to become watery and my heart skips a beat. I was getting everything I wanted, why wasn't I satisfied,

"I don't care what we do. I just want to be with you. Even if that means we just take a nap." I answer as I lay my head against his chest.

"A nap sounds great but no, we should do something else. What were you doing?" He asks as he grabs my notebook. I smile as I take it from his hands.

"I was working on an emergency program that'll last for the next 3 weeks or until the Argo is done," I start. His eyes twinkled with interest and he smiles.

"What kind of program?"

"It's an assistance program, strictly on volunteer basis. I talked to Chiron about it and he approved. But before I tell you about it I want you to answer a question. Do you think what I do for you at the Bunker helps?"

"Yes! Oh my goodness, babe I missed you today. I completely took you for granted. I mean my office got so cluttered and disgusting, I didn't have any progress reports, no snacks or food, no one to keep me company, no one to deliver messages for me. I can't say I had a very productive day," he admits.

"Well look that's where this program comes in. I figured that if I could get enough volunteers we could give each of your brothers and sisters an assistant. Plus we could have a supply crew that'll move things, check inventory and all that, a group for serving snacks and passing out water, and a group to help clean up because the Bunker is getting pretty disgusting."

"That'll help a lot. It'll save a lot of time and there will be less strain on them. You're a genius!" He kisses me again and I smile.

"You think it's a good idea?"

"I think it's a great idea!" He says excitedly as he looks through the notebook.

"And I talked to my brothers and some of my sisters. They're not mechanical geniuses or anything but they know a little about engineering and building. Some of them agreed to help in anyway they can,"

He lifts up an eyebrow and smiled even wider. "Seriously?"

"Dead serious, that means you have an additional 13 people to work on the Argo. That should speed up things right?"

"Definitely...so how many volunteers do you have?"

"Mmmm roughly 50, and that was the last time I checked. Diana and Veronica are still asking for volunteers now,"

"50 people!"

"Mhmmm," he squeezes me so tight that I thought he was going to suffocate me to death.

"You guys are awesome. When do you think this can start?"

"Uh..,by tomorrow I think," I answer unsurely.

"I'm excited, let's go tell everyone. They're probably in my cabin-"

"No Leo I want to keep it a surprise. I wasn't even planning to tell you,"

"Okay, okay. My lips are sealed,"

"Oh and Leo, we need to schedule short breaks. I sketched out a schedule for everyone,"

"Yea, I'm looking at it now. I think it's pretty practical too. I think we'll use this,"

"Well if you decide to I can type it up and make copies. Oh and-" he kisses me again and this time really strongly. He lifts me up onto the table and stands between my legs. It was quick and spontaneous, and well pretty sexy too.

He kissed me along my neck and his hands felt all over my body. Leo and I hadn't had sex yet, but there was a first time for everything...

* * *

**I thought Leo deserved some love after all is hard work ;). Thanks for reading and the next chapter should be up on Friday. Let me know what you think, yea? **


	6. Chapter 6

_**June 15th 6 AM**_

* * *

**Mackenzie POV**

* * *

I smiled as I woke up in Nate's arms...wait a minute. I shouldn't be in Nates arms...

I jumped up and realized we were still on the boat. It was morning and we weren't at camp. Nate jumped up with serious bed head or should I say sex hair, never mind that didn't matter. What mattered is that we were in the middle of the San Francisco Bay, miles away from the camp that should be up and about right now.

"What is it?"

"Nate! It's morning and we're still on the boat!" I was now panicking. I threw on my pants and did my best to fix my hair that had returned to its curly state from all the moisture in the air.

"Oh I'm so sorry. I was supposed to take you back," he puts on his pants and doesn't even bother to put his shirt on which I didn't mind at all. It was nice to see all his muscles...Gods focus Mackenzie! I say chastising myself.

He hurried and took us back to camp. We managed to slip in through the tunnels and I charmspoke a few people but we were in. Even with all my efforts we still got in trouble. Reyna put both Nate and I on probation but to be honest I didn't really mind because it was sooooo worth it.

Word got around pretty quickly and soon enough I was confronted by Jeremy while I was in the stables.. He looked extremely angry too.

"Where were you?" He asks.

"I was with Nate,"

"I didn't fuckin' ask who you were with! I said where were you!?" He yells. I looked around for help, but I couldn't see Nate anywhere. He promised he would stay close by!

"At the bay. Nate was showing me Ody's boat,"

"From the looks of it you did more than look at a fuckin boat," he growls taking a step closer to me.

"You're right, we did A Lot of things on the boat," I retort suggestively.

"What!?" He says reaching for me.

"Yes, Jeremy I fucked Nate. And it doesn't matter because I'm breaking up with you, and that's final. I won't spend one more day being with you. It's Over!" I yell.

"It's not over until I fucking say it's over!" He slaps me at a blinding speed and the side of my face throbs. He raised his fist but before he could hit me someone grabbed him.

Nate twisted Jeremy's left arm and pushed him into one of the dirty stalls. So when stood up he was full of unicorn sh-

"You son of a-" Nate hit him in the stomach with a shovel causing him to double over.

"You abusive piece of shit! You think it's okay to his women and girls!?" Nate yells angrily as he brings down the shovel onto his back.

"Don't you ever lay your filthy, greedy hands on any female again! And you stay away from Mackenzie and her sister. If you so much as come into a 3 yard radius of them I will kick your ass again!" He yells as he brings the shovel down again. Jeremy groans in pain and tries to roll out of the poop. He raised the shovel again, this time aiming for something else.

"Nate don't!" I hear someone yell. I look over to my left to see Ody standing there, clearly confused. Nate's position made it looked like he was ready to kill Jeremy, which he probably was.

Nate dropped the shovel and walked away from the stall. I stood there shocled and scared, still holding onto my burning cheek.

"Are you okay?" Nate asks. He pulls my hand down and I can only imagine what he was looking at. Was there a clear hand mark? Was it red and swelling? I can only imagine the bruise that was probably forming.

"That son of a bitch," he curses angrily as he looks at it,

"What's going on?" Ody asks as he walks over to us.

"I went to go get something from my brother and when I came back I heard yelling. When I walked in he bitch slapped her and raised his fist like he was about to chin check her. I just got so angry,"

"Is this the first time he hit you?" I look down and shake my head. I was embarrassed, Jeremy had made me weak. Over time he broke me and made it so that I hardly challenged him and I almost never fought back. Truth was, there wasn't a day where he hadn't hurt me physically or emotionally. He'd hit me with heavy objects, thrown things at me, called me names, embarrassed me in front of his friends, and when he didn't get his way he'd rape me. I wasn't sure if I should say anything about the whole raping thing just yet...that was something major that I didn't want to bring up.

"It's okay Kenz. We're gonna go talk to Reyna right now. It's not safe for him to be around you, you're going to have to tell her everything," Ody says. His sea green eyes were stone cold and his face strong and stern. So now, I had no choice but to 'fess up.

Lexi

Even though she was angry with her sister she tried her best to cover for her but in the end both her and her sister got in trouble. Lexi was already on probation for the fight she got into a few days ago. Now she was lying about her sister's whereabouts. To be honest, she didn't even know where her sister sneaks off too most of the time.

When she finally saw her sister she was pissed. She had gotten in trouble and did her sister say anything to her? No.

Mackenzie wasn't upset about her punishment at all. She could bet anyone a hundred bucks that Lexi had sex with Nate. It was like Mackenzie was wearing a neon sign that said "Hey! I just had sex with my best friend and it was great!"

Lexi had no choice but to shrug it off and get over it. She spent most of the day alone, avoiding Ody. Ever since yesterday she hadn't wanted to even look at him. He accused her of cheating, and said some pretty hurtful things. She had enough problems to deal with, but nowadays she even wondered if it was worth the fight. Ever since the dream her life seemed to spiral out of control and it was starting to make her question whether it was worth living anymore.

She walked to the cafe alone to drink some hot chocolate and eat some chocolate chip cookies. Hot chocolate always calmed her down and cookies seemed to slightly lift her spirits. What helped her mood even more was when she listened to music on her compact.

She then decided to go see her dad in the city. She knocked on the door to the apartment he always rented during the summer and he answered the door.

"Lexi!" He scoops her into his arms and spins her around. He then set her down inside the apartment and closed the door.

"Hi daddy," she says gently. She looked at her father and gave him a small smile. He looked the same with his thick curly brown hair, smooth and tanned skin, with strong green eyes. He was pretty tall which always made Lexi wonder why she was so short and he still looked like he was in his mid twenties even though he was a few years away from being forty. He had extremely good looks, which was probably why my mom had two kids with him.

"What brings you by Lex," he asks as we walk into the living room.

"I just wanted to talk and see how things were going with you and work," she says as she plops down on the couch and turns on the tv.

"Oh it's great. I got a pretty good job offer, and was going to call you and your sister tomorrow but here you are. I might as well tell you," There was a big smile on her dad's face so she could imagine it was good news. Then someone walked into the room. It was Janice, her dad's old assistant back when they lived in Boston. She knew she was a total slut, and pretty much hated her with a passion. But no matter how much Lexi tried she couldn't get him to ditch her.

She was wearing a white shirt that showed way too much cleavage, khaki shorts, and black boots like she was about to go camping or something. Lexi tried hard to keep her face straight, she promised her dad she would act descent towards her so she forced a smile.

"Oh hello Lexi. What a surprise," she says with clenched teeth. She wasn't too happy to see Lexi and for her the feeling was mutual.

"Yea, I guess," she responds looking at the tv. Janice was a legacy of Aphrodite which made Lexi her aunt or something like that. Janice sat in her dad's lap and kissed him making Lexi's stomach churn. This was not what Lexi came there to see.

"You know what dad,I don't think it's a good time. I'll just compact you later," she says jumping up from the couch.

"What? You just got here! Come on Lexi don't be like that. Sit down, there's something I want to tell you," he says while gesturing for her to sit back down. She listens to her father, since she didn't want to upset him. She needed at least one person on her side right now.

"What is it dad?" She asks.

"Okay. First thing is, I bought a new house,"

"What? Why,are we moving?" He nods with a big smile on his face and she braces herself for what else he was about to say.

"Yes, I bought an actual house here in the city and we'll be living here year around now," he continues. Lexi's jaw drops. Her dad was telling her that she would be at camp ALL YEAR! He might as well be sending her to military school.

"Dad you can't be-"

"Yes, I'm serious. I got a pretty good job offer and I thought about it. Plus it would be safer for you to be here. Plus you'll be with Ody and most of your camp friends." He starts to explain.

"But dad! I-"

"Lexi let me finish," he says in a warning tone. She bites her lip and crosses her arms. She could feel her blood getting warm.

"And Janice will be moving in with us," He continues. Lexi gasped and jumped up.

"No! Dad why!?" She yells. She didn't care that Janice was sitting right there, she already knew Lexi didn't like her and she said from the beginning that she would love to be my stepmother because then she'd be able to make my life a living hell. Lexi never thought things would get this serious.

"Because we're getting married," he responds. Now Lexi was about to explode.

"What do you mean you're getting married!?" She yells.

"It means just what I said, we're getting married," his face had turned serious and he wasn't too happy with his daughter's reaction.

"And I'd love for you to be a bridesmaid," Janice adds with a evil demonic grin. What better way to rub it in her face than to have her be a bridesmaid.

"Shut it _bitch_!" Lexi yells rudely. At this point her blood was boiling and she felt like jumping off a hundred story building.

"Lexi! How dare you speak to her like that!"

"Guess it doesn't matter because I'm not going to your stupid wedding and I'm definitely not going to live with this raging -!" She yells angrily. Her father jumps ups so quickly it wasn't even funny, he snatched her up so quickly that she didn't even get to say bitch at the end of her sentence.

"First of all I told you to watch your mouth. I'll be damned if I'm going to sit here and let you talk to me or any adult any kind of way. I'm not one of your little friends and neither is she," he squeezed Lexi's arm tightly causing her a lot of discomfort. "Secondly, you don't have a choice. You are going to the wedding and you will be living with me until you turn 18," Lexi gives her dad a mischievous smile.

"Well that's just unfortunate. I won't live to see the day," she says. The expression on her dad's face changes, he probably couldn't tell if Lexi was just being a smart ass or being serious. He released her arm and looked into her eyes.

"What are you talking about?"

"I only have until my 15th birthday to live, Why don't you sleep on that daddy!?" She spats. He froze and Lexi glared at Janice before running towards the door.

"Lexi! Get back here!" Her dad yells just before she slams the door behind her.

The rest of Lexi's day proved to be total crap. She burned her shirt while working in the forges, she tripped and fell into pile of mud, she got gum in her hair while working a shift at the daycare with young demigods, and the necklace that Ody gave her got caught on a harness hanging in the stables and broke.

"Fuck my life," she muttered bitterly as she picked up the broken chain and the charm.

"I'm sure Ody wouldn't mind replacing that," I heard a familiar voice say. I turned around to see Jeremy eyeing me like I was a piece of candy.

"What do you want Jeremy?," she growled. She did not feel like dealing with his stupidity right now. He was a low down douche bag that wasn't worth dirt and she hated his guts. Lexi had warned her sister that this guy was bad news but did she listen? No.

"Oh I just came to lock up the stables for the day. Everybody's down at the dining pavilion, getting ready for dinner," he says twirling the keys in his hand. He smiles as he closes the doors behind him.

"What are you doing!?" She says trying to reopen the doors. He pulls out a needle and sticks in her arm, injecting a thick sedative into her system. Almost instantly she starts to get dizzy. "What the fuck did you to me!" She growls gripping her arm. Her knees buckle and just as she was about to fall her caught her in his arms.

He smiled sinisterly, making Lexi's stomach do somersaults."Oh it's just a little something to make sure you won't fight me. Don't worry, you'll enjoy what happens next,"

* * *

_**Oooooh cliffhanger! Lol so here's the deal. 5 reviews and I'll put the next chapter up on Sunday? I would really appreciate the feedback and even suggestions. As always thank you for reading and stay tuned for the next chapter... :)**_


	7. Chapter 7

**Thanks for all the wonderful reviews! It makes me so happy to get the notifications :) Well I had you waiting long enough so here's the next chapter. Enjoy! :D**

_** P.S. I borrowed a lil somethin from Rick, you may remember or recognize it.**_

* * *

**June 15th **

**8 PM**

* * *

**Ody's POV**

* * *

The day seemed to drag on. I spent almost my whole day searching for Lexi. Man did she know how to avoid people. Every time I caught sight of her she found a way to disappear. I wanted to apologize for the way I had acted last night but she was making it impossible to even get within 10 yards of her.

I walked to the dining pavilion and I didn't seen her there. I asked around to see if anyone had seen her. A girl said she saw her running in the city, another said she saw her while they worked in the day care, and most recently two guys said Reyna sent her to the stables to put up harnesses and feed the unicorns. So that's where I went.

I thought for a while about what I might say. Nothing was coming to me, but that didn't matter because I heard the unicorns whinnying. Since they were pretty much horses with horns I could understand that they were saying,"Help!Help!"

I ran over as quickly as I could and only one of the stable doors had been pushed open. Inside the unicorns were beside themselves.

"Sssssh quiet!" I command. The unicorns try their best to calm down and when they did I heard crying. I walked towards the crying and my heart skipped a beat when I saw who was in the empty stall.

It was Lexi.

Her clothes were pretty much shredded and she just laid there crying. Her body was stiff and she didn't move a muscle.

"Oh my gods Lexi!" I fall to her side and pull her into my arms. "What happened to you!?"

She whines and I realized she couldn't speak. She could only let out soft whines, groans, moans, and heartbreaking whimpers. Someone had obviously drugged her. I looked up towards Shirley, one of the oldest unicorns at camp.

"What happened Shirley?"I ask as I take off my jacket and slip it onto Lexi.

"She was here putting up the harnesses when that Mars kid came in here again. He came to lock up but he drugged her with something so she couldn't fight him," she starts. I continue to listen to the story of how how Jeremy had pretty much drugged Lexi so he could rape her. It didn't work out the way he planned though. When he entered her at first he enjoyed it, then he started to burn. Then he screamed like a little girl and ran out the stables about 30 minutes ago.

My fists clench and I punch a hole into the stable wall. I couldn't believe this! I should have let Nate take care of him earlier when he tried to beat on Mackenzie. Her panties were torn so I just slipped on her jeans, and I scooped her up in my arms. After I got Lexi to the infirmary I was surely going to hunt down Jeremy and kill him for what he tried to do.

Lexi stopped whimpering and her face went blank. There was a broken look in her eyes that made me want to cry. Her body went limp and if it weren't for her steady heartbeat I would have thought she was dead.

Dr. Stanley gasped when he saw us enter the infirmary.

"What happened!?" He said rushing towards me.

"Jeremy tried to-he tried to," I stutter . I clear my throat and try again. "Jeremy tried to rape Lexi in the stables. He drugged her, ripped her clothes off and when it didn't work out the way he wanted he ran off somewhere. He points to an empty infirmary bed and I set her down. He shines a light in her eyes and pulls out his stethoscope to check her heartbeat.

"Did she tell you that?"

"No, Shirley did," I say as he unzips the jacket.

"The unicorn?" He asks tilting his head to the side. He shakes his head "Oh I had forgotten you were a son of Neptune,"he says.

He frowns when he notices the marks on her breasts and neck. "Did you give her these hickies?" He asks.

"Some of them," I pointed out the ones I gave her yesterday, and the rest had been from...Jeremy.

"Ody, I'm going to need you to go get her sister. She needs to get her sister some clothes and bring them here. You can come check on her later."

"Will she be okay?" I ask taking her hand and squeezing it slightly.

"We have to take a blood sample and figure out what Jeremy drugged her with. You need to find Reyna and tell her what happened," He says while calling the only nurse that worked there I nod and leave the infirmary. I hurried to go fine Mackenzie.

She was sitting on the couch with Nate and they were pretty close for best friends But then again I knew they liked each other a lot more than that. Maybe now that she broke up with Jeremy they could be together. Now wasn't time to think about relationships and hook ups. I walked up to them and their faces become more serious.

"What happened? What's wrong?"

"Lexi was in the stables and when Jeremy went to lock up, he decided he wanted to drug her and attempt to rape her. Then when his dick started burning he ran screaming like a little girl, leaving her naked in the empty stall laying in a pile of hay. She's in the infirmary and the doctor needs you to get her some clothes," she gasps and covers her mouth.

"Oh gods this is all my fault! I gotta go!" She jumps up and runs towards her barrack to grab some clothes for Lexi.

"Where is he!?"Nate growls as he clenches his fists. He was just as protective of Lexi as I was, so I know he was ready to spill some blood.

"I don't know but I swear, if I see him again he's going to be begging for his life," I say through clenched teeth. I caught sight of Reyna and walked over to her and Octavian.

"I need to speak with you. It's an emergency," her dark eyes examine me coldly and finally she answers.

" What's this about Jackson?" She asks uninterested.

"After you sent Lexi to put up the harnesses in the stables Jeremy came, drugged her, and tried to rape her," I explain vaguely. Reyna's face hardens and she stands up from her seat.

"Come with me and tell me what happened," she says. I nod and we walk out of the dining pavilion.

* * *

**An hour later...**

* * *

Reyna was pretty good when it came to crowd control. Soon everyone found out about what happened to Lexi. Mackenzie was in the infirmary crying in her dad's arms. I was able to keep myself together until I reached my barrack. Since everyone was at the field of Mars for tonights war games I was alone.

I couldn't help but feel guilty. If I hadn't been on her so much she wouldn't have been avoiding me all day, and this would have never happened. I started to cry like a baby until I fell asleep. To be honest it would have been better if I'd stay awake.

* * *

**Two days later**

* * *

Yesterday was a pretty busy day. I woke up with a nightmare, the camp was attacked by ogres, Lexi was in and out of consciousness, the 5th cohort actually won for a change, Mars showed up and claimed Frank as his son, then ordered him, Percy, and another kid of their choice, to go to Alaska and free death. This morning a senate meeting was called and Frank, Hazel, and Percy had to attend.

It seemed like Percy had managed to make best friends within a two days. I found it pretty sad that he had gotten to know Frank and Hazel more the he'd gotten to know me...his own brother. After the quest was approved Percy filled me in on what was to happen next.

"Wait wait wait, we have a navy?" I ask with a confused look. Frank nods and exchange looks with Hazel.

"How come Lexi and I never knew about it? How come we've never gotten to use it. Everyone knows I'm the strongest in water!"

"I don't know. Reyna said it wasn't a Roman form of travel, besides many people were just as surprised about it as you are,"Percy says smoothly.

"Okay so where is this "navy"?" I ask skeptically.

"At the Alameda Docks, Reyna said you would know where it is," he says. Frank starts exchanging words with Hazel as Percy talked to me.

"Yea I do...you want me to show you where it is?" I offer.

"That would be nice, but I understand if you're busy and all," he says. I give him a small smile and pat him on the back.

"I'd be happy too. Just let me grab Lexi,"

"Is she even talking to you now?" He asks with an eyebrow arched.

"Not really, but she's coming whether she likes it or not. I don't want to be at odds with her and I feel she should get out of camp for a little while," I admit. Ever since Lexi regained consciousness for sure, she's been extremely depressed.

"If you think it'll help...we have to hurry though. We don't have much time,"

"Right," I make a left heading towards the barracks, I had a pretty strong feeling Lexi would be there.

I walked inside and it was pretty quiet. When I listened really closely I could hear soft sniffles coming from the closet. Just as Frank was about to say something, I raised my finger to my lips. They stayed quiet and I pointed towards the closet, so they understood. I slowly walked towards the closet as quietly as I could but I heard movement in the closet, whoever was in there had heard me.

"Ody! Leave!" Lexi cries from the closet. I slide open the closet doors to see her holding a gun to her head.

"Lexi..." I said cautiously. I hold my hand out and she steps back.

"I swear I'll do it Ody. One more step and I'll pull the trigger right in front of you," she threatens. Her wrists had been cut by something sharp and her hair was a mess. She literally looked insane. The look in her eyes reminded me of broken glass, and it broke my heart to see her like this.

"Lexi please, you don't want to do this. I know you're scared and I can't-"

"Shut up! I don't want to hear another word that comes out of your mouth!" I let out a deep breath and counted to three.

"Babe, please. Just put the gun down," I take a step forward and she pulls the trigger, only the bullet didn't pierce her skull...it hit the she was confused I quickly disarmed her and pinned her to the ground.

"Dammit Ody! Get off of me!" She struggled to get out of my grip.

"Lexi! Stop fighting me!" I yell but she didn't listen. I wrestled with her for fifteen minutes until she was too tired. Normally this probably would have lasted a lot longer but I still she may have been battling some of the side effects from the drugs.

"Please," she begs. "Take me out of my misery. Just kill me already, " she cries. I look into her red bloodshot eyes and I could feel a tingling in my heart, I could feel sympathy, I pitied her, she was like an animal that had been abused and or hurt and needed to be put down. But then I realized these emotions didn't seem like me at all...they weren't mines, they were being planted inside of me.

"Stop manipulating my emotions!" I growl angrily. "I'm not going to kill you,"

"I'm destined to die anyway. Ody please, if you loved me you'd end my suffering," I could feel the tingling in my heart and this time in my head.

"Stop it!" I yell again as I press her against the floor harder. I had seen her use her powers on people and monsters before, now she was trying to use it against me. I was not about to accept that from her.

"Please!" She cries.

"You listen to me and you listen good. I'm not going to kill you, I'm not letting you kill yourself and I'm sure in hell not about to let someone else kill you!"

"Ody-"

"I know you've been through alot and you feel overwhelmed right now. Everything seems dark, but you know we've been in this situation before but did we give up? No, we pushed back harder,"

"I don't want to fight," she whines as she starts struggling to get out of my grip again.

"You don't have a choice," I growl. "Stop being so selfish!"

"It's my life! I have the right to be selfish!"

"No you don't. Dammit Lexi! Don't you get it!? I 'm not gonna let you die! So stop!" Her sudden burst of energy had crashed and once again she stopped fighting.

"Ody...my heart hurts," she cries softly. It really hurt to see her like this but I had to be strong for the both of us.

"I know baby. It's going to be okay," I say strongly. I let go of her and pull her into my arms.

"You don't understand. I can feel my life slowly wasting away. There's this clock...it won't stop ticking. I'm running out of time," she burries her head in my chest and grips my shirt.

"I promise I won't let you die Lex. You have a god that vowed to help you. He doesn't want you to die. If Juno could see a future for us it means there's a big chance you'll survive. Promise me you won't give up,"

She looks up at me with red glossy eyes,"Ody I can-"

"Swear on River Styx that you won't give up and stop trying to break this curse. Swear it Lexi,"

"Ody-"

"Swear!"She looks down and I use my hand to lift up her chin. I stare into her eyes.

"I...I swear on River Styx that I...won't give up on trying to break this curse," she says reluctantly. It would've been a great time to just cup her face in my hands and kiss her passionately, but I couldn't. Percy cleared his throat and I had forgotten that they were all in the room. Well this was awkward...

* * *

**June 17th **

**8 AM**

* * *

**Percy**

* * *

Once Ody, Percy's twin, yes twin, had gotten his girlfriend more stable he found a way to drag her with him to the docks. From there, it took them two hours to reach the docks in Alameda.

Frank had stored his spear, bow, and quiver in a long bag made for skis. Hazel's cavalry sword was wrapped in a bedroll slung on her back. Ody had Tsunami his sword/laser pointer, was in his pocket was ready just as Riptide was in Percy's pocket.

Ody had insisted Lexi bring her bow and quiver of arrows for emergency purposes, so they were both slung over shoulders. They walked to Rockridge Station, bought their tickets with mortal money, and hopped on the BART train. When they got off in Oakland they had to walk through some rough neighborhoods, but nobody bothered them. In the late afternoon, they made it to the Alameda docks. Percy looked out over the San Francisco Bay and breathed in the salty sea air. Immediately he felt better.

Dozens of boats were moored at the docks-everything from fifty foot yachts to ten-foot fishing boats. He scanned the ships for some sort of magic vessel-a trireme maybe?

"See anything?" Ody asks.

"Uhmm..."Frank pointed. "You don't think...?"

At the end of the dock was a tiny boat covered in purple tarp. Embroidered in faded gold along the canvas was S.P.Q.R

"No way," Percy said in disbelief.

Ody helped Percy uncover the boat, their hands working the knots like they've been doing it their whole lives. Under the tarp was an old steel rowboat with no oars. The boat had been painted dark blue at one point, but the hull was so crusted with tar and salt it looked like one massive nautical bruise.

On the bow, the name Pax was still readable, lettered in gold. Painted eyes drooped sadly at the water level as if the boat were about to fall asleep. On board were two benches, some steel wool, an old cooler, and a mound of frayed rope with one end tied to the mooring. At the bottom pf the boat, a plastic bag, and two empty Coke cans floated in several inches of scummy all looked utterly horrified and disgusted, especially Hazel and Lexi.

"Behold," Frank said. "The mighty Roman navy."

"There's gotta be a mistake," Hazel said. "This is a piece of junk."

"This is insulting," Ody says with a disapproving look. He fiddled with something in his pocket, like keys or something.

"Well this will have to do," Percy says as he begins to clean it up.

"No no no, I can't let you use this piece of sh-"

"Ody," Lexi says softly before he could finish. Her eyes looked old and worn down while her face looked tired. She moved sluggishly as if she were a toy robot on low battery.

"Well you have any better suggestions?" Frank asks.

Ody frowns and looks like he was conflicted like he knew something and he was reluctant to share with everyone. "Yea I do. You guys can take my boat," he says gently.

"Uhh...Ody? You don't have a boat," Lexi say with a confused look. He looks down at her and takes her hand.

"Yea, I do. It was supposed to be a surprise, I was going to show it to you on our anniversary, " he says nervously. Lexi starts to blush and Ody smiles.

"So where is this boat?" Percy asks.

"It's here. On the other side, come on I'll show you," he says. Percy and Frank recover the Pax and Ody bought Lexi a soft pretzel and shared a frozen lemonade. Even Ody and Lexi had some serious problems Percy couldn't help but think they'd were meant for each other. He hadn't gotten to know Lexi much but he had a feeling she was a really good person. There had to be a reason his brother was head over heels for her.

They walked for another ten minutes until they reached the other side of the docks. Ody stopped in front of a row of luxury boats that were reserved, rented, or owned by obviously wealthy people. Everyone looked at Ody with a confused look.

He ignored the looks and pulled out the keys Percy had heard earlier. He pressed a button and the boat in front of them started letting down the ramp. The group gasped and Percy's jaw dropped.

In front of them was one of the sweetest boats he'd seen. It was cream colored with sterling silver railings. It looked like it could have cost as much as a Lamborghini.

"All aboard the L.M.J Angel," he says as he walks with Lexi hand and hand onto the ship.

"L.M.J?" Percy asks. Ody starts to blush and he tried to figure it out.

"Yea...Lexi Martinez Jackson,"

"You named your boat after me?" She says as she eats another spoonful of frozen lemonade.

"Yea, you don't mind do you?" He asks nervously.

"No, I'm honored," she says with a weak smile.

"Well great. Let me show you guys around then," Ody says rubbing his hands together.

The deck had expensive, richly treated wood with three beach chairs, a bar, and a bathroom. There was also a section with a glass table and two curved cream colored leather couches that formed a semicircle around the deck were two bedrooms, a kitchen, a small theater control room, and a room with thick reinforced glass that let you see through the water. The ship had a top notch navigational system, it's own force-field, invisibility mode, canons, an entertainment system and almost anything you'd need.

"I been working on it for a couple months, you like it?" Ody says looking down at Lexi.

"Yea, it's really nice," she says softly before yawning.

"Dude this boat is pretty sweet. You sure you want us to use it," Percy asks.

"Yes, take it. Just make sure she makes it back. I swear Percy if you don't-"

"I'll bring it back," he says nonchalantly. He was pumped and ready to use this baby. He'd never gotten to use anything this nice.

"You better," Ody says with a warning tone. Percy holds out his hands and Ody reluctantly hands the keys over. Percy smiled and fought the urge to start singing "I got the power!"

Ody and Lexi bid the questers farewell and got off the ship leaving Hazel, Percy, and Frank to go off and free death before the Feast of Fortuna which was in 5 days.

* * *

**Thanks for reading this chapter, as always I hope you enjoyed it. I actually have the next chapter written and ready to go,but I'm not gonna put it up til I get a few reviews. THANKS :)**


	8. Chapter 8

**Lexi**

* * *

Lexi was pretty depressed right now. Her body had become one an hourglass and every second of her life was one of those little grains of sand fell to the bottom. She couldn't concentrate on anything that mattered. Like how the armory couldn't produce any more weapons since they had run out of gold and the enchanted water it had to be cooled in. Like how the bastard who tried to rape her was now nowhere to be seen. Like how one of her half-sisters continuously tried to get at her boyfriend.

She had too many problems and not enough time and energy to deal with them all. She was sure the Camp would survive and Percy, Hazel, and Frank would travel to Greece and Rome to fulfill the prophecy. What would happen next if she did break the curse?

She would be forced to live with Janice while her sister went to college with Nate in the city. Ody, went wherever she went at this point, but that was all Lexi would have. She couldn't do gymnastics anymore, she couldn't try out to be a cheerleader, and most of all she couldn't see her best friend Maya.

It was dinner time and she slipped away from the couch with Nate, Ody, and her sister to sit in a secluded little corner by herself. Of course Ody refused to let her be alone and isolate herself from the group. It was "depressive behavior" But Lexi personally thought it was worse to sit there and watch her sister make out with her new boyfriend. Seeing her sister so happy in her time of crisis sickened her.

"What's wrong? You haven't touched your food," Ody says pointing towards her plate with his fork.

"Not hungry," she says in a low voice. He frowns and stares at her for a while until she started eating her cold spaghetti.

Suddenly there was a blinding white light and a strong breeze. In the center of the room was a guy who looked just like Nathan (Nate) with a blinding white smile.

He radiated so much power everyone knew instantly he was a god. Everyone knelt down in respect except for Lexi. It could have been because she had gotten so comfortable with her patron or because she was mad that he waited all this time to try and tell her about her curse.

"Ah there's my lovely Butterfly,"he says taking a few steps towards Lexi.

"Soon to be dead butterfly," she mutters bitterly under her breath.

"What was that my dear?" He asks. He cups his ear as if it would improve his hearing.

"Nothing Lord Apollo. What brings you by our lovely camp this evening," she says with a hint of sarcasm.

"We had to address the whole curse issue," he says plopping onto the couch casually.

"Lord Apollo, if you don't mind me asking...to what curse are you referring?" Octavian asks nosily.

"The one and only Lexi here bears the Mark of the Dove," he reveals. There's a few gasps, whispering, and muttering. Ody shifted uncomfortably next Lexi.

"Yea, yea I'm cursed. Woohoo! whoop-dee-fucking-do! This doesn't concern any of you so get the fuck out of it," she snarled viciously. Reyna growls and stands.

"It does concern us whether you think so or not. Don't get beside yourself, you are on probatio after all,"

"Nobody gives a fu-" Ody covers Lexi's lips and she angrily pushes it away from her mouth. Apollo makes cat noises and eats some grapes.

"Ladies, ladies. No need to fight," he says in amusement.

"Can you just tell me what you needed to tell me?" Lexi asks impatiently. She was two seconds from exploding on Reyna and anyone that pushed any of her buttons.

"Patience, patience sweetheart," he says nonchalantly. He looks at Nate and smiles. "Ah Nate, you've grown so much. And I see you finally got the girl you wanted," he winks and both Mackenzie and Nate start to blush.

"Yea, few days ago..."Nate confirms.

"Congrats, remember to use protection next time," Apollo says casually. In better circumstances Lexi would have laughed at everyone's faces.

"Yea no one cares if my sister fucked Nate on Ody's boat," Lexi says trying to change the subject.

"They what!?" Ody yells. He looks between Lexi and the couple with shock and disgust.

"Yea, the fucked on the couches on your ship, in the middle of the bay while it was in invisibility mode. I found out when I sat on the couch. But that doesn't matter that's their business. People fuck all the time," she says with a shooing motion. She turns towards Apollo and rubs her forhead. Apollo will you PLEASE get back on the issue at hand," she begs.

"Yes, yes. Well I'm sure you remember everything I told you dring our last conversation?"

"Of course, it would be pretty hard to forget that there's a deadline to your curse," she says sarcastically.

"Why so moody cupcake?" He asks tilting his head to the side. Lexi facepalmed herself and tried to control the fiery rage that was stiering inside of her.

"Apollo," she growls.

"Fine, fine. You're lucky I like you, because with that attitude I would have, incinerated you," he says matter of factly. "You need to go to the Lake of Invincibility. You mortals call it Lake Crescent nowadays," he says as he plops another grape into his mouth.

"And why do I need to do that?"

"You'll get something you'll need to break the first part of your curse,"

"What about the second part?"

"I'll get back to you on that. Can't reveal too much at a time,"he says while conjuring a chocolate cupcake. The rest of the campers were watching this as if it were a Lifetime movie.

"But I only have less than two weeks left! I need to know now!" She demands.

"Oh...I see the real problem. You're stressed about the whole time thing. You shortlives," he says with a soft chuckle. Was he really laughing at a time like this.

"Well yea! How would you feel if you only had two weeks left to live!?" She says while standing up. Lexi had just about had enough.

"Calm down sheesh. You're not gonna die,"

"Am I some kind of game to you? Is this some kind of joke,"

"That would be a pretty cruel joke...Look Lex, you're taking this all the wrong way. You only have to break the first part of your curse by your birthday silly,"

"Just the first part...?" She repeats with a confused look. She replayed the last words of their last conversation. . Eternity... she had to lose her virginity, but first she had to make Ody immune to the effects of her curse.

"Yes, two weeks is plenty enough time to lo-"

"OKAY, thank you for clearing that up," she says before he could finish his sentence.

"No problemo mi amor," he says lamely. "Reyna, Ody and Lexi are to leave first thing in the morning. No senate meeting, no debates, no prying in this personal matter. Lexi, will debrief you on things when she gets back from the quest." He orders.

She nods and Apollo claps his hands in delight. "Great, then my work here is done. Oh and one more thing. You guys have 38 hours to get there and two days to get back before the Feast of Fortuna," he adds.

"Yes, Lord Apollo," she says. She finally curtsies in respect and Apollo smiles in satisfaction. In the blink of an eye he was gone, leaving Lexi in front of stunned campers.

* * *

**Maya**

* * *

Maya hadn't been the same since she recieved a prophecy. She had been minding heroen business when Rachel ,aka the Oracle, walked up to her like some creepy zombie person and pretty much told her she would kill herself and everyone she loved unless she found someone marked with a dove? It was confusing and very scary. She hasn't told anyone yet but ever since the encounter she's had nightmares about it.

Ever since the prophecy her emotions were all over the place. She could hardly control her powers so she decided it were best if she isolated herself until it was under control. She was upset because she wasn't with Leo in his time of need. The Argo was supposed to be ready in 3 days so that they could get to the other camp by June 24th, the Feast of Fortuna for the Romans, but Leo and the team had been facing a whole lot of minor setbacks and he was running out of she felt bad because half of those setbacks had been because of her...

She sat alone at the lake reflecting on past couple of days. She looked out into the calm water and sighed. She was feeling just as stressed as Leo was. She wanted to make things better, but with her powers acting all weird and crazy she would only make things worse.

"I've been looking for you all day, should've known you were here,"Leo says as he sits next to Maya. He shouldn't be there with her, he should have been at the Bunker finishing the Argo.

"What are you doing Leo? You're supposed to be working," she mutters.

"I had to make sure you were alright, you been acting kind of strange lately,"

"I'm fine...you should get back to the Bunker,"

"You coming with me?" Maya snorts and turns away from Leo.

"Why? So I can screw something else up? No, I think I'll just keep my distance,"

"Maya, those were accidents. No one is holding anything against you," her vision starts to become blurry and she rubs her forehead.

"Leo I could have killed someone! I could have compromised everything! No, I'm just going to stay out of the way...I can't help you," Maya looks down at her fingers then stands up.

"Maya-"

"No Leo. Just go on without me, you don't need me to finish," she starts to feel sick and as she tried to walk away she fainted.

* * *

**Leo**

* * *

Something was definitely up with Maya. At first we thought that she may have caught a cold but I had a strong feeling it was more than that. There was something she was hiding from me and I wanted to know what.

I paced back and forth in the infirmary as some of the Apollo kids examined Maya. She laid out on the bed unconscious, hardly breathing. I feared the worst.

Finally Brad, smiled and whistled. His twin Chad, smiled and patted me on my back.

"What?" I say with a confused look.

"Dude, you're gonna be a daddy!" Chad says before doing some wierd dance.

"Guys, that's not funny. I don't have time for jokes, what's wrong with her,"

"We're not playing with you man. Your girlfriend is pregnant, about a week. There's a faint, faint heartbeat, You can listen if you want to...?" Brad says offering me the stethoscope. My hands start to shake as I take it from him and listen to his directions carefully. Sure enough, there was a heartbeat. I was going to be a dad.

"Don't tell her I know...just say I had to go back to work which technically isn't a lie," he says gently. He didn't know whether or not to feel happy or upset.

"You alright man?" Chad asks with a skeptical look.

"Yea I'm fine. Is she gonna be here long?" I ask.

"No, she should be good to go about an hour after she wakes up. She'll have to go rest in her cabin the rest of the dad though," Chad answers.

"Fine, I'll check up on her later. Thanks guys," there was no emotion when I spoke... What was I gonna do? I had a quest that I might not come back from, I haven't graduated from highschool, I didn't have any family to help me, and I definitely didn't have any money to provide for Maya and the baby.

The rest of the day I felt numb, I drowned myself into the work and I surprisingly got a lot done. The Argo was almost done which was good but that only meant that he would be leaving soon. What would happen to Maya when I'm gone? The thought was almost too much to bare.

* * *

**Well ummm...nothing much to say other than what I always do. Hope you liked this chapter and thanks for reading. The next chapter should be up Friday.**


	9. Chapter 9

**Lexi**

* * *

Lexi woke up early and got ready for her mysterious quest. She didn't quite understand the quest but she trusted Apollo. She packed her compact, portable wardrobe, some mortal money, a few denarii, and some snacks. She debated whether or not to bring nectar, ambrosia, and a first aid kit...usually Ody would pack those things. She shrugged and decided to get some anyway.

It wouldn't hurt to be prepared for anything.

A few of her roommates were up so she said goodbye and left Mackenzie a slung her quiver of assorted magical arrows and lightweight silver bow over her shoulder and walked out of her bunker.

The cold wind slapped her in the face as she walked towards the tunnel. Since they would be traveling North they might as well leave from the camp entrance. She listened to music as she waited for Ody to show up. When she did she started to feel bad about the way she'd been acting. Yea, she had the right to be mad about some of the things he said and did but she hadn't handled things too well. Even though he had taken her to the docks yesterday and treated her pretty well she had given him the cold shoulder the whole time.

"Goodmorning," he says gently as he opens the door to the tunnel.

"Goodmorning," she answers in the same tone.

"Did you eat anything?" He asks as he looks at his watch.

"No, I just packed up and came. I packed a little food so I should be alright. Why, did you eat?"

"No, I pretty much did the same, but it just occured to me I didn't pack anything to eat for later. And I don't know if you packed any extra food..."

"I did. You hungry? I don't think we have time to really stop but if you want I can give you a little something to munch on...?"

"Yes, please," he gives her a warm smile and she hand him her bow and quiver so she could take off her Coach backpack.

She opened it up and examined its contents. "What do you want? I have biscuits, chips, marshmallows, carrots, ham and cheese sandwiches, taquitos and guacamole, some pineapple, watermelon and strawberries, and some water,"

"Umm can I have a biscuit and some strawberries?"

"Sure," she pulls a small sandwich bag with two biscuits and another with some strawberries. She holds it out to him, "Here,"

"Thanks babe," he says as he takes the food from her.

"You're welcome," she says sweetly.

They traveled most of the day without problems which was a little strange considering they were attacked pretty often outside the camps protective borders.

Maya

I woke up with a massive headache and my boobs were a little sore. When I finally opened my eyes, I could see I was in the infirmary...What was I doing here?

"Chad?" I croak. "What happened?"

He gave me a small smile and walked to the side of the infirmary bed.

"You fainted and Leo carried you here. He stayed for a little while to see if you were okay then he left to go work on the Argo,"

I let out a deep sigh. Did I really expect for Leo to have stayed with me?

"Oh..."

"How are you feeling?" He asks.

"I'm fine. I just have a really bad headache. There's nothing wrong with me right?" I guess. He diverted his eyes elsewhere as if he were avoiding the question. "Chad..."

"Well, what's going on with you is completely natural," he says with a nervous smile.

"What's "going on" with me?" I ask pressingly.

"You're uh...a week pregnant," he says nervously.

"Stop playing with me," I practically growl. He throws his hands up.

"Why does everyone think I'm playing!?"

"Because you're always playing!"

"Well I'm not this time. You're knocked up and that's that. Would you like an ultra sound with that?" Okay, I had to admit what he said stung a bit.

"Well thanks for the great fucking news," I say bitterly. I throw off the sheets from on top of me and start putting my shoes on.

"I'm sorry...I didn't-"

"Mean to sound the way you did?" I finish for him.

"Well that's too bad because you can't take it back. Just like I can't go back in time and say no Leo let's not have unprotected sex because I know I'll be pregnant 2 weeks later," I say harshly. Yea, maybe it wasn't fair to take out my current frustration on him. He wasn't the one who had gotten me pregnant, he wasn't the one who started screwing with my powers and making me non-intentionally sabotage the Argo. It was all on me.

* * *

**One day later**

* * *

**Lexi**

* * *

I shot another arrow and pierced the cyclops in his eye while Ody jumped up and stabbed at his neck. He hollered in pain and I shot another three arrows at the cyclops's heart. I thought the lake was protected and guarded by good and pure beings not unnaturally tall cyclopses with morning breath.

We killed the last one but I had a bad feeling that they will soon reform.

"Come on, Ody. Let's hurry up," I say tugging him along. I was glad that I made up with him because I was feeling the need to be really close to him. I don't know it seems the closer I get to my birthday the more dread I feel.

Since the Olympic National Park was "closed for safety reasons", there was no one there. No guides, no tourists, no children running around expecting some big adventure. It was just trees, trees and more trees.

The moisture in the air made my hair frizz and I pouted in frustration. I sighed as I wished that Ody and I could just choose a spot to camp out and have a romantic evening. There were birds chirping, bees and june bugs buzzing. The sun shone high over the thick groves of trees, and reflected off of the spiderwebs and water droplets on the leaves and trees. The air seemed exceptionally clean and pure, real high quality oxygen.

Ody takes my hand as he leads me down one of the trails. He could sense body's of water from miles away so it was good to have him with me on the quest.

"Are we close yet?" I whine.

He squeezes my hand gently and gives me a small smile. "About another mile. Why, you tired?"

"Yesssss," I admit. I knew better than to think the quest would be easy. We've been attacked by empousa, ugly spider demons, and a dragon that breathed fire and spit acid. And once the cyclopses reform they'd be after us.

There were no time for breaks.

"Well you know we can't stop now. We have to get to the Lake, what do we do once we get there?" He asks as he helps me over a tree that fell over.

"I know, I know," I open my bag and checked to see what we had left: gummy bears, two packets of individual servings of saltine crackers, and a gatorade. I bit my lip at the selection.

"What is it? There's no dinner?" He asks.

"All we have is a pack of gummy bears, 4 crackers, and 24 oz bottle of gaorade." I answer.

"Well I still have half of that footlong we got at subway, and a half a bag of hot cheetos," I sigh and we continue to walk. As I suspected we fought, Harry, Larry, Barry, three times within the past hours. I was not injured, tired and hungry, and when it seemed like we'd never make it...well we did.

Ody and I gasped at the sight. From a distance it looked marvelous, The water stretched out as far and wide as I could see. In the distance were lush green mountains full of thick groves of trees. Birds flew overhead in the clear sky and the sun was now beginning to set making the view even more spectacular. I had to snapshot this.

"Ody! Quick picture please!"I beg. He groans and I pull him towards the water.

"Lexi we don't have ti-" he cuts himself off and I see him stare into the water.

"What is-" I didn't finish my question because I saw it. I bent down onto dipped my finger in the water. When I lifted it up my finger had a thick almost oily liquid on it.

The water had been poisoned...

Maya

I know is bad but I haven't talked to Leo since I got out of the infirmary which was around 2:oo yesterday afternoon. It was now dinner time and I'm still avoiding him. I knew he would ask me what's wrong, I'd say nothing, and he would demand an answer. Leo already had enough on his plate, I didn't want to pressure him with the news. He didn't need any distractions.

I quickly sat down and stuffed my face with food so I could as I was going to burn my offering or tribute, Leo ran up to me with a plate into his hand.

"Maya, why have you been avoiding me?"

"What are you talking about?" I smile and throw my offering into the fire.

"I've been looking for you since yesterday morning! You haven't been to the bunker and I swear you hear me calling you and you disappear. Did I do something wrong?"

"No Leo, you haven't done anything wrong," I put away my plate and walk towards my cabin. I was getting really tired. Chiron told me that demigod pregnancies happen in advanced and elongated stages. So it was like I was 2 months pregnant when I was only a week.

"Then why are you acting like this? I can tell something is wrong Maya," he grabs my arm and gently pulls me towards him.

"Nothing's wrong. I'm fine Leo,"

"Then what happened the other day? Why did you faint the other day?" I racked my brain for an excuse. I wasn't ready to tell him I was pregnant.

"I uh, my blood sugar was low?" I say unsurely.

"Yea, try again. The truth would be nice this time,"

"Leo, I really have to go,"

"Where do you have to be? What do you have planned?"

"Leo-"

"Dammit Maya, I already know you're pregnant!" He blurts out. Good thing we were a good distance from the dining pavilion, otherwise everyone would have heard.

"You do..? How?"

"I found out while you were passed out in the infirmary. I told Brad and Chad not to tell you I knew. I wanted you to tell me, but you've been just avoiding me and denying the situation,"

"No I'm not," I say crossing my arms. He pulls me close and lifts my chin so that I'm looking up into his eyes.

"Maya...we need to talk about this,"

"Leo...we can talk about this after you save the world," I say softly.

There was a pain look in his face before he said, "Maya,I might not come back..."

* * *

Okay guys I know I took FOREVER to update an I'm super super super sorry :( I was busy though. Anywayz I hope you enjoyed it and I will most definitely be updating on Monday. Thanx for reading :) Please Review.


	10. Chapter 10

**Lexi's POV**

* * *

"What happened to the water?" I ask as I look out into the dark oily liquid.

"I don't know, but the limnatides that live here probably aren't doing so well," he says grimly.

I hear groaning and coughing and when I turn back to the water I was horrified. Women crawled out of the water croaking and choking on the poisoned water. They had dark rings under their eyes, their clothes were stained and tattered, their skin was pal with infected burns.

I backed away and stood behind Ody. In past experiences he had a little control over water and all creatures in his fathers domain.

"What happened to you?" Ody asks in horror.

"Son of Neptune...and Daughter of Venus, we've been expecting you," one of the women slurs with an evil grin. I shivered in disgust but I held my ground.

"Well, we're here...," I say. "Let's get this party...started?" Ody gave me a look that said: shut up. And I cleared my throat.

"I said, what happened here?" He says with ,more authority. They snicker and I hear a few... giggles? I couldn't really tell because they were smiling while making weird gurgling and choking sounds.

"Our water has been poisoned as you can see my dear," the main one sneers.

"By who,"

"By the idiots guarding the park," another one says. She reaches out to touch my hair and I quickly pulled away.

"I used to have pretty hair like you," she says bitterly. I felt bad for her, she probably did have pretty hair before their water was poisoned. Now, she literally had 3 extra long strands among short messy frizz.

"How can we help? Apollo sent us," Ody says. They snicker and another 20 to 30 girls come out of the lake in the same state.

Then they attacked.

* * *

**Leo's POV**

* * *

"Why would you say that!? Of course you're gonna come back,"

"Maya there's a chance-"

"No! I'm not listening to this!" She says covering her ears. Her eyes were slightly pink like she had been crying and she moved sluggishly so I could tell she was tired.

"Babe, you have to face it. We aren't going to get anywhere if you continue to be in denial," I stroke her cheek and I could see the tears forming in her eyes.

"Leo please, not right now," she begs.

"Maya I don't have much time left...we have to make plans for you and the baby," she looks down and I lift her chin up again.

"Leo, I don't think I'm ready to have a baby yet," she says softly.

"Well you're pregnant, you can't go back now," I give her a kiss just a tear runs down her cheek.

"Well it's still early in the pregnancy maybe I could just get-"

"No! Don't you dare!"

"It's the-"

"I don't care what you say, you are not getting an abortion! This is my baby too Maya,"

"Well you're not the one that has to carry it for 9 months!" She yells back angrily.

"I know I'm not but we're in this together,"

"How Leo? You're leaving soon and you're gonna be gone for gods know how long. And fuck! What if you_ don't _come back, I'm supposed to raise this baby alone!?" She throws her hands up furiously and I didn't need to be a rocket scientist to tell she was getting angry.

"That's what we have to figure out," I try to pull her close to me again but she pulls away.

"Well why don't you do you and pitch me some of your brilliant ideas later. I'm not in a brainstorming mood," she says bitterly before storming off.

Someone cleared their throat and I turned to see Jason scratching his head awkwardly.

"How much did you hear?" I ask.

He gives me a nervous smile, "Enough to know why she's avoiding you and to know why you've been so upset.

"Okay, whatever,"

"You wanna talk?"

"No, not really. I have a lot of thinking to do," I begin to walk towards my cabin and he follows.

"I don't mean to stress you out more than you already are but there's something you need to know,"

Without thinking I let out a deep sigh and a satyr runs past us frantically. "What is it Jason?"

"Two things...Maya got a prophecy a couple of days ago, and she hasn't told anyone about it. Something about her killing everyone due to her lack of control over her power unless she finds someone marked with a dove or something like that,"

"Are you serious?"

"Yea, and well the second thing is that I talked to Hera last night in a dream...Maya is one of the nine. She has to come with us,"

"Dude! She's pregnant. There's no way she's going on this quest!"

"Leo man, I know this is hard but you really don't have a choice. We need her,"

* * *

**Lexi's POV**

* * *

I was able to create a force field around us while we planned this out.

"Can't we just kill them? I mean they're rabid and tainted" I say while looking at a girl who was gnawing at a protective barrier.

"No, if we kill them the the magical properties of the water is lost,besides they only reflect the state of their domain or home" he says with a frown.

"Then what do we do?"

"We have to find a way to purify it,"

I groan in annoyance. I wish that the gods and all the auguries could just be straight forward. Why couldn't Apollo just say hey, at Lake crescent there's a bunch of rabid-grudge looking women that are close to death because the water they live in is poisoned.

Suddenly there was a flash of white light and a huge wave of white foaming water hosed down the girls. I looked towards the direction it was coming from and I saw five women. The one in the center was clearly a leader, she had a golden dress, with a ton of jewelry, and a tiara that had jewels resembling droplets of water.

"Come with us, quick," she says. Two girls grab both of our arms and two girls grab Ody's.

We run away from the sick and twisted limnatides and down towards a river that led out of the lake. We reached a dam that had actually stopped the poison from traveling any farther, but I could tell it wasn't going to hold out against the poison for long.

The the two girls said something I couldn't understand and pulled me into the water. There was a flash of white and suddenly I was at the bank of another river gasping for air. However, Ody didn't seem to be affected by it at all.

"Are you okay?" He asks as he pats my back.

Once I stop choking the women finally address us.

"I am Queen Diane, and these are my daughters," the woman in extravagant clothes says. She holds out her hand and I take it so she could pull me up.

"You're in charge of all the limnatides of the lake and local rivers here aren't you?" Ody asks.

"Yes, Odysseus," she says formally.

"Call me Ody...please," he says cringing at the name. I smile and take his hand. Ody didn't like people calling him by his full name so everyone just had to get used to calling him Ody. The only person he let call him Odysseus is his father, Lupa and me.

"Okay, well as my subjects said earlier we've all been expecting you,"

"Did Apollo tell you we were coming?" I ask. The woman smiles warmly.

"No, but we've known that this time would come. It has been foretold before I even became queen 200 years ago," she says gently.

"What's been foretold? I mean it obviously is more than us just showing up," I respond.

"You and Ody are here to help us. We need you to purify our poisoned water,"

"I could try to dilute the water by conjuring more," Ody says while tapping his foot. He had his thinking face on and I thought it was pretty cute.

"No, that wouldn't work alone. Lexi needs to go into the poisoned water,"

"That water is heavily poisoned. She could die! Not to mention the fact that they're all trying to kill the both of us,"

"It's a risk and sacrifice that has to be made. She must go into the water naked and bathe in the water and use her inner power to purify the water,"

"So you want me to skinny dip in poisoned water?"

"Is that what they call it these days?" The queen asks looking towards one of her younger subjects.

"More or less,your majesty," one of the girls answer.

"Well then yes," she answers.

"But...I still don't understand. What kind of inner power am I supposed to be using?"

"I think you already know the answer to that my dear," she says before taking a syringe with a clear liquid and motioning for me to walk forward.

"What is that?" Ody asks.

"A temporary blessing," she says before lifting my shirt, exposing my birthmark. She released the cool liquid onto my birthmark and after a few seconds it started to burn. I watched as the outline of my mark turned golden.

"What kind of blessing?"

"A warriors blessing, its extremely diluted due to the lack of our resources but it should be enough. You will temporarily be invincible and immune to anything and everything,"

"When you say temporary...how long is this supposed to last?"

"10 minutes, which is just enough time to get you past my subjects and into the water,"

I let out a deep breath of frustration. I could feel what was about to happen next.

"Well, we don't have time to waste do we?" I say accepting the challenge.

Leo

I paced back and forth nervously, This was not good at all. This quest would be way to dangerous for a pregnant demigod.

Hell, even if she wasn't prego I wouldn't want her to go. I didn't want to risk losing her or the baby.

"Does Chiron know?"I ask nervously.

"Yea, he knows about the, the prophecy, her being one of the nine, everything..."

"Fuck," was all I could say as I ran my fingers through my hair.

"So do you want me to tell her or...?"

"No, I'll just tell her in the morning before I go to finish up the Argo tomorrow," I say gently, trying to calm my nerves.

"Alright, I'll see you later then," he turns to walk back towards the dining pavilion probably to see-

"Jason, you can't tell Piper about the whole pregnancy thing," I beg.

"Come on man. That's my girlfriend, I don't keep secrets from her,"

"Jason, seriously. I'm trusting you. Please man," I beg.

"You better tell Piper soon. I'm not keeping this from her for long, "

"Fine whatever," I say dismissively before walking back to my cabin. Tomorrow was definitely gonna be a long day.

* * *

**Okay, I get it. The chapter is short but I'm still trying to get back on track. No promises, but the next chapter_ should_ be up this Wednesday. Hope you enjoyed the chapter and I'd love to get some feedback on the story so far. Also I'll take suggestions for the next chapter or for future chapters :) **


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